Bitter 2: Mori's Bitter Days
by mcangel1976
Summary: Sequel to Haruhi's Bitter Days. Mori is at university, Haruhi has to deal with the hosts alone. She has her self-defense training, but how many times is she going to have to throw Tamaki this time? How do they handle the separation? How do the students react to her accidental gender reveal and her newly engaged status? What is this about dueling on school grounds? Read and find out
1. Summer is Over

**A/N: Well you asked and here it is… the sequel to Haruhi's Bitter Days. I really wasn't sure what to title it, so if you have a better suggestion, please let me know. XD There will be two sequels for the story and I am calling them the Bitter trilogy. This story will be her first year without Mori at school and flashbacks about how everything started for them. You will see different things that happened throughout the beginning of their relationship like what happened behind the scenes at the beach house, the first time Mori met Ranka, the first time he introduced Haruhi to his parents, etc. I hope you enjoy it as much as you like the original! Let me know if there is anything that you would like to see in particular. I will def include your suggestions if possible! Please review if you can. Thanks!**

**(fyi… I know school times in Japan are different than in the US, but I am using our school season here versus there. Sorry if that confuses anyone)**

Chapter 1 – Summer is Over

Haruhi and Mori sat lounging next to the pool at the Morinozuka country estate. They had escaped for a few days of alone time before the new school term started. Five days without the other hosts bugging them and trying to kidnap Haruhi. Five days of peace and quiet. They had been there for three days and had two more days before they had to leave their little haven and deal with school, the other hosts (aka Tamaki), or real life.

Life had felt surreal since Mori had come back from his test of manhood, but the couple had never been happier. The morning he proposed was one of the best in their relationship when the love of his life had thrown herself in his arms and said yes. Thinking about that morning, he wasn't sure how long they had sat there on the kitchen floor embracing each other, but one minute it was quiet and the next minute Ranka's voice cut through their haze of giddiness.

**_Flashback…_**

_"Do my eyes deceive me or is that the handsome devil Takashi Morinozuka buried under my daughter?" Ranka smiled looking that the man his daughter was clinging to. He immediately spotted the ring on her finger and went into fangirl (ahem fanboy) mode. "OH MY GOD! IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS?" He squealed in a high pitch voiced and ran up to grab his daughter hugging her to death (he and Tamaki really are too much alike for Haruhi health and wellbeing)._

_"Dad I thought you were sleeping!" Haruhi exclaimed in surprise as she tried to push her father away and increase her air intake. She couldn't exactly treat him the way she treated Tamaki, he was her father after all._

_"I was, but I thought I heard the door open and then voices; and I was afraid that it was that awful blonde man come to kidnap you again! So I rushed to see what was going on!" Ranka gushed, but he wasn't releasing her._

_Mori knew it was going to be up to him to rescue Haruhi. She wouldn't use her self-defense moves on her father and there was really no other way out of his embrace when he was excited like that. Pulling her out of the older man's arms and setting her down next to him with an arm around her shoulders anchoring her to his side, he spoke to the red head, "I hope you don't mind Ranka. I got home this morning and my brother said that he was going to send a car to pick her up. I decided to surprise her instead."_

_Shaking his head, Ranka smiled, "So I take it you passed the test. Congratulations you two! If I would have known you were going to propose this morning, I would have made sure we had champagne or something."_

_"That is ok. I couldn't wait to ask her," the tall man told him softly as he gazed down at his new fiancée. _

_Ranka shrieked and rushed to the two teens and embraced them together, "I am just so excited for you! My baby is getting married and to a hunk of a man no less!" _

_"Umm, thanks dad," Haruhi said hesitantly. She was feeling a bit awkward with how her father was carrying on and the things he was saying. She knew that Mori was already used to her father, but it was still embarrassing. _

_After another hour spent in Ranka's company drinking tea, eating breakfast, and listening to the older man expound upon the brilliance and beauty of his daughter, the couple left to go to his house as was the previous plan. His parents were just as excited and so was Satoshi. Sparring didn't happen that morning because at some point in time Mori and Haruhi sat down on the couch to talk and fell asleep in each other arms._

**_End flashback…_**

Chuckling at the memory, Mori turned and looked at Haruhi who was lying in a beach chair reading a book. She always took his breath away and he believed her to be the most beautiful woman in the world. He wasn't sure how he got to be so lucky, but he would hold onto her with both hands and be grateful for her in his life every day.

"What are you over there giggling about?" Haruhi asked without looking up from her book.

Mori scowled, "I don't giggle. I am not a girl, a child, or Mitsukuni." He loved his cousin and would do anything for him, but the small blonde did giggle… a lot.

"Ok, what are you chuckling for? Is that better?" She laughed as she rolled her eyes in her mind.

"I was just thinking about the morning I proposed and your father found us on the floor. Then instead of sparring with my brother, you and I fell asleep at my house."

"I would like to point out that it wasn't my fault. I didn't get a lot of sleep the night before because I knew you were going to come back that day. I really missed you! I had every intention of going over there to spar with your brother, I just felt really comfortable because you make the perfect pillow, and found myself dozing off."

Mori leaned over and kissed her shoulder, "I missed you too. I think being apart from you was worse than the test. I am never leaving you for that long again. That nap on the couch was the best sleep I had gotten since I left to go take the test and we were separated."

"I am just happy that you passed it. I was worried about you out there trying to do a survival test. I know you had Hunny, but still."

"I know," he ruffled her hair. When he had recounted the tales of his survival test in her presence he always left out a few facts because he knew she got a little worked up still when she thought about the fact that they were given a back pack with the barest essentials, a knife, and a compass. They had to survive off the land completely for two weeks. She didn't need to know that they ran into a bear, had to deal with bats, wild dogs, and anything else that popped up that were even remotely dangerous. She knew that some things happened, but she didn't want to know the details and he wasn't going to divulge. He was ok with the fact that she didn't want to know.

"When you blocked my door, I thought you were a dream and I was seeing things," she giggled finally putting her book down and looking at her fiancé.

"I am better than a dream."

Smirking, Haruhi got up from her chair and joined him on his lounger as she whispered against his lips, "Much better than a dream." She sealed her statement with a kiss.

The wind suddenly picked up and started to whip about. The couple broke apart and looked up at the sky hoping that they wouldn't see what they both feared the most. Their dream world was broken and an ambush had been set. Above them leaning out of a helicopter just like he did when Haruhi had gone to Karuizawa were Tamaki and the twins waving like fools and grinning like idiots.

Grinding her teeth, Haruhi growled a proclamation, "I am going to kill them all!"


	2. The First Time

**Disclaimer: (because I was bad and forgot to put it on the first chapter. GOMEN!) I do not own (though I wish I did) Ouran or any of its characters. I have hopes that before I turn 100 it might change though. **

**A/N: I was excited to see the response I got on the sequel. I know you asked for it, but it still makes me excited when I see all of the alerts, faves, and reviews. Ok, in this chapter, you are going to see how it all began… match making Hunny at your service. LOL. Enjoy and please review if you can! ARIGATO!**

**PS… There is a poll up on my page so that you can vote for the pairing you want to see in the July 4****th**** story I am planning. You can vote for up to 3 people and the choices include more than the hosts. I will be closing the poll on the 6/28. So far the leader is Kyoya with Mori and Nekozawa tied for second. **

Chapter 2 – The First Time

Mori and Haruhi sat in the living room with the other hosts with Haruhi giving the others the evil eye. She was hoping that this was just a nightmare and she would eventually wake up, but it was not meant to be. Tamaki had jumped out of the chopper followed closely by the twins and ran up to her and Mori. All three of them found themselves staring up at the clear blue sky as one by one they were dealt with by Haruhi. The last couple of days of peace and quiet were destroyed by the Host Club.

Two members were actually absent from those present, Kyoya and Hunny. Hunny probably refused knowing that this was their vacation and time alone before the hustle of school started. It was going to be harder for them to see each other and spend time together since Mori and Haruhi were going to be in different schools now. Kyoya had been busy working on some things for his father and the family businesses. He also understood the importance of the couple's need for time away from everyone before the new school term started. Needless to say, they were the only two of their friends that used their brain.

Continuing her scowl, Haruhi snapped, "What the hell do you three think you are doing here?"

Tamaki jumped up and was about to go to her in order to sooth her temper. He really believed he could calm her down by getting closer to her and embracing her, or at least that is what he convinced himself.

"Take one more step Tamaki-senpai and I will not be responsible for my actions," Haruhi growled. She felt Mori's thumb caressing her shoulder where his hand lay from wrapping around her. It brought her anger down a couple of notches, but it was by no means close to being completely gone. The longer she sat there looking at her friends faces, the more she wanted to slap them all and maybe get the neurons in their brains functioning again.

Gulping, Tamaki slowly made his way back to the couch and sat back down, "N-N-Now Haruhi."

"Never make eye contact," Kaoru muttered so only his brother could hear.

Hikaru murmured under his breath, "Never show fear."

"Or the predator will know that you are afraid and strike quickly immediately going for the jugular," they spoke quietly at the same time. Both gasping and feeling the sweat start to form on the back of their neck with Haruhi turned her glare of ice on them.

"Why are you three here? Takashi and I are on this vacation alone and the Host Club was not invited. If you all remember correctly, I was forced to go on vacation with all of you earlier this summer when Takashi was out of town," Haruhi snarled just like the wild animal the twins were comparing her to.

Mori pulled his enraged fiancée a little closer trying to calm her down, but he felt the same way she did. Why did the Host Club have to interfere on their vacation? "You three need to leave," he stated simply expecting them to follow orders but knowing that they would pout and argue about it.

"What? We don't want to leave! You have had Haruhi all to yourself the last few days. It is time to share her!" Tamaki declared.

Lifting an eye brow, he tightened his grip on Haruhi because he felt her body preparing to leap at their friends. Maybe he should have just let her go and let her do whatever she wanted to, but he didn't knowing that she would feel bad if she hurt them too much. A little was ok; a lot… well she would probably have a guilty conscience. He wouldn't, she would. "You went with her on vacation for almost two weeks while I was gone. Then you have randomly appeared at her house and called host club functions throughout the break. You need to give us our time."

"I think we should let Haruhi decide," Tamaki pouted believing that his precious little girl would be on his side.

"LEAVE! You need to go home and leave us alone!" Haruhi shouted breathing heavily. She really felt like she was going to kill the morons.

Tamaki was in shock. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that he was not wanted there, "But Haruhi we came all this way to see you."

"And Mori-senpai," Hikaru whispered to Tamaki.

"Huh, oh yes, and Mori-senpai," the Host Club king smiled and tried to be as charming as possible.

Scowling, Haruhi guffawed, "Your Host Club bullshit doesn't work on me. You need to save it for the customers, of which I am not one and never have been one. If you do not leave us alone, I will call Kyoya-senpai and Hunny-senpai and you can deal with them."

The three intruders looked at each other with the same thoughts on their minds: Hunny and Kyoya were not people they wanted to mess with. Hunny when he went into dark Hunny mode was a force to be reckoned with and they were sure that one call from Haruhi and Mori about the interruption to their little getaway would cause him to go very dark. Kyoya was already part of the dark side and they knew that although he knew they were coming and had refused to come warning them not to go, if he got a call from the wild host and the natural host, there would be hell to pay. Swallowing hard, all three of them wrapped their arms around each other afraid for their future and the future of their unborn children.

"She won't have to call them, I will take care of you myself," Mori glared causing all three to lose their souls.

When the three of them finally came to with their souls intact, a car was waiting for them to take them home and a servant was there to make sure they left. They tried to find the couple to beg them to allow them to stay a little longer, but they couldn't get past the guard and no amount of yelling was bringing Mori or Haruhi into the room. They decided it was best to leave before something happened to their fragile lives.

As the car containing their supposed friends was driving away, Haruhi breathed a sigh of relief. They were gone and she could get on with her vacation with her fiancé, hopefully with no further interruptions. Staring out the window she watched the limo as it disappeared and turning into a speck of dust in the distance. She felt arms wrap around her from behind and she turned around and smiled up at Mori, "They are gone and we are once again free of the Host Club!"

Mori could see the irritation still present in her eyes and on her face. She was more than a little peeved that their friends had taken it upon themselves to interrupt their vacation and try to inject themselves into the couple's alone time. He was actually wondering why they hadn't tried to sneak in on their first day away. "Are you ok?"

"Yah, don't worry. I was just mad that they decided to show up like they did. I don't know why I was surprised that they actually tried something though. I mean this is Tamaki and the twins we are talking about," she grumbled.

Kissing the top of her head, he gave her a little squeeze before releasing her, "Why don't you go get changed and we will go out to dinner tonight."

"Sounds good," Haruhi said as she stood up on her tip toes and gave him a quick kiss before walking to her room.

As Haruhi got ready to go out to dinner with Mori, the memory of how he asked her out for their first date popped into her head causing her to giggle. Who knew accepting a simple invitation would lead to something so magical for her.

**_Flashback…_**

_"Haru-Chan I was wondering if you would like to go with me to Takashi's kendo meet this weekend," Hunny exclaimed running up to her bouncing excitedly. He had met her out in the halls hoping to catch her before she walked into the music room. Mori had gone to the restroom and so when he saw Haruhi, he felt it was the perfect time to ambush her._

_"Umm sure Hunny-senpai, I'll go with you," Haruhi gave him a small smile unable to say no to his bubbly personality. It would be fun to watch a kendo meet and to see her senpais outside of the Host Club without the others around. _

_Hunny latched onto his friend and swung her around a bit, "Yay! Thank you Haru-Chan!" He was more than a little ecstatic that she said yes and couldn't wait for her to see Mori in his element. Oh he long suspected his cousin had feelings for the female host, but had yet to act upon them. Hunny was about to play matchmaker… that is if they were willing to take the bait. He set up the meeting the rest was up them. _

_Haruhi laughed and asked, "Shall we go on to club now?"_

_"You go ahead Haru-Chan. I am going to wait for Takashi," Hunny beamed. _

_Nodding, Haruhi turned around and started walking towards the music room. She decided on her way there, she was not going to tell the others about the tournament because she didn't want to hear the whining and the complaining. She could also imagine the others inviting themselves if they knew about it; no it was best that she kept her mouth shut. _

_The morning of the kendo meet, Haruhi got ready to go and when there was a knock at the door, she opened it to see her short bunny loving senpai standing on the other side of the door. Together they walked down to the car and were off to the tournament. _

_Haruhi was able to see first-hand how skilled Mori was in kendo. It was like watching a living work of art moving as the flowing rivers. The fluidity and grace of his moves left her with a feeling of awe and wonderment. She wasn't able to take her eyes off of him. When he won the tournament, she felt someone nudging her side. Looking to her right, she saw Hunny sitting next to her with the biggest grin on his face. She didn't know what to say and returned his smile. _

_"He's great, isn't he Haru-Chan?" Hunny probed. _

_Haruhi looked back to where Mori once stood and not seeing the tall man any longer turned back to gaze at his shorter cousin. "He was amazing," her voice held a breathless tone in it._

_His grin growing, Hunny couldn't agree more with her assessment and knew that she was caught in his net. Now he just hoped Mori was too. _

_Upon arriving at the dojo, Hunny had introduced Haruhi to both sides of the family. They may not have known exactly what his plan was, but he suspected the matriarchs might have had an idea that he was trying to play matchmaker. They never said anything though and spent the time between matches getting to know the scholarship student, both taking an instant liking to her. Hunny's plan was working. _

_When Mori had emerged from the locker room, he immediately made his way towards his family and stopped in his tracks when he looked up and saw a certain brunette conversing with his parents. Rubbing his eyes, he looked again. The image had not changed. He felt like he was dreaming, but he was sure he was awake. Slowly making his way over to his parents, he was unable to take his eyes off of the female host. _

_"Takashi! I hope you don't mind, but I invited Haru-Chan to your competition!" Hunny gushed noticing that his cousin and best friend could not take his eyes off of Haruhi._

_"Ah," Mori intoned. Well that explained how and why she was there. Walking up to his mother and father, he had to force himself to move his eyes from Haruhi to his parents as he bowed towards them, "Mother, Father." Turning and acknowledging Haruhi next, he gave the tiniest smile, "Thank you for coming Haruhi."_

_Blushing, Haruhi smiled and averted her eyes to look at her feet, "I am happy I was able to come Mori-senpai." She didn't know why she was suddenly feeling very nervous and shy. That wasn't her. That wasn't who she was._

_"We were just getting to know your friend here Takashi. She is a remarkable young woman," Michiko smiled. _

_Mori's eyes snapped to his mother. Was his mother actually giving her approval? No, she couldn't be. No one knew that he had a crush on Haruhi. "Yes, she is," the stoic host spoke quietly looking once more at Haruhi. His parents walked off leaving the two teens alone for a moment, and the words were out of Mori's mouth before he even thought about them, "Haruhi would you like to go to dinner with me?"_

_"Dinner? Umm, I can do that. Will we be going with Hunny-senpai and your family?" Haruhi inquired. She wasn't sure what she was hoping his answer was. _

_Scratching the back of his neck, he decided he started; he would finish what he was really asking, "Well, no, I was thinking that we could go just us on a date." He was fully prepared for her to decline his invitation._

_Blushing even harder, Haruhi started to fidget a bit, "I would like that Mori-senpai."_

_"Did you say yes?"_

_Haruhi looked up into his eyes, "It's a yes."_

_Mori had never heard three more beautiful words at that point in his life and his lips curled upward in a real smile, "Tonight?"_

_"Well, don't you have to go out with your family or something? I don't want to take you away from them."_

_"It will be ok."_

_"If it is ok with them, then I can go tonight."_

_Mori patted her head and spun around to find his parents, who it turned out were standing right behind him and probably heard the whole conversation. Bowing he asked, "Will it be alright if I escort Haruhi to dinner tonight?"_

_His mother patted his face and grinned, "You two have fun."_

_Looking to his father, he could see the twinkle in the older man's eyes and received his nod of approval. Facing Haruhi again, he asked, "Are you ready to go or did you want to stay longer?"_

_"Let me just say good bye to Hunny-senpai," she stated and went to where the shortest host was standing. With the farewells out of the way, she and Mori walked side by side out of the dojo. _

_Dinner had been a revelation for her. She had never heard Mori talk so much. His voice ensnared her and she found herself feeling very comfortable around him. She talked about things she had never told anyone before and knew instinctively that she could tell him anything and he wouldn't tell others or judge her. She couldn't remember the last time she had so much fun and realized that the butterflies she was feeling in her stomach was because she had feelings for the tall host. She knew they were feelings of more than friendship, but she didn't know where they would lead or if he felt the same. He had to feel something for her though since he asked her out on a date._

_Taking Haruhi to dinner had been the best thing Mori had ever done for himself. He knew that others in the club had started to have crushes on her, but he had asked her first and she had gifted him with a "yes". He felt like he could be himself around her and could let his guard down without worry that she would think less of him. He had found a kindred spirit in her. _

_They had left the restaurant and got into the car so that Mori could take Haruhi home. Neither wanted the date to end, but it was getting late and Mori knew how precious Haruhi's weekends were to her for catching up on housework and studying. As he walked her to her door, she crooked her finger and asking him to bend over. When he did, she kissed his cheek and whispered, "I had a great time Takashi." She left him standing on the landing in shock. _

_When the door closed, Mori snapped out of his stupor and straightened up bringing his hand to his cheek where Haruhi had kissed it. It tingled and he felt like he was on top of the world. It was a wonderful night._

_Haruhi leaned against the front door and smiled. She couldn't believe she was so forward in using his first name without permission, but somehow she didn't think he would mind. Sighing, she brought a hand up to her lips and wondered what it would feel like to have a real kiss from him. Pushing herself away from the door, she went to her room to think about how great her day had been._

**_End flashback…_**

As Haruhi finished getting ready for her dinner date with her now fiancé, she couldn't help but smile at everything that has happened over the last several months. Almost ten months ago she accepted that invitation from Hunny and now she and Mori were inseparable.

Stepping out of her bedroom, she found the object of her thoughts waiting for her wearing a black suit with a white shirt and blue tie. In one word, he looked amazing. Smiling, she walked up to him and straightened his tie for him and said, "I love you Takashi Morinozuka."

"I love you too Haruhi Fujioka," he grinned and leaned down to give her a kiss. He was so glad it was he who took the plunge and asked her for a date first.


	3. Welcome Home

**A/N: All of you know how sneaky Hunny can be and well, it paid off for his cousin. When I was writing the last chapter and the interaction with the twins, I could just see them being a little mocking and comparing her to a wild animal. LOL. Thank you mtnikolle for the MFTC2… It is sure to grow and we may need to look at upgrading our counter. I will talk to Kyoya about that… hopefully I won't have to sign my life away though. For those following Another Chance, it has been completed and a sequel started. Enjoy the new chapter and please review if you can!**

**PS… Poll is still up. Kyoya is in the lead and beating Mori by 1. Nekozawa is in 3****rd****. **

**PSS… I have had two suggestions for other titles: Mori's Bitter Days (from Semoka) and Separated and Bitter (from crazywrit765). So I will let you decide. Put in the review if you would like to weigh in on this. Your choices are: 1. Mori's Bitter Days, 2. Separated and Bitter, 3. Bitter Days in High School (original title). Arigato!**

Chapter 3 – Welcome Home

Other than the little blip when three bakas tried to interfere in their vacation, Mori and Haruhi had the perfect getaway. It was what they needed before they started to go to separate schools. It was going to be like this for the next two years: Mori would be at university and she would be stuck in high school without him. She tried to find ways to graduate early, but it wasn't in the cards for her; so she decided she would wait it out. Besides, someone had to keep the twins out of trouble and did she really want to graduate with Tamaki? That was probably not the best idea. A shiver went up her spine as she imagined what being in the same classes and then graduation ceremony with Tamaki… not going to happen.

As Mori was dropping Haruhi off at home after their little break from everyone, he got a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. They hadn't told anyone when they would be home, but that didn't mean Tamaki and the twins couldn't find out when they were due back. He had learned long ago to follow his instinct and he would listen to it now. He didn't know how or why, but he knew the hosts were lying in wait for Haruhi to arrive back at home.

Pulling out his phone, Mori decided to send a quick text to his cousin and brother to see if they had heard anything. Chika and Satoshi may not be joining the host club, but his little brother would know if the hosts (*cough* Tamaki *cough*) had bothered his parents. He received a response back from Satoshi saying that they did call but were given no information. No response from Hunny… that meant their friends were up to something.

As the car came to a stop, he turned to Haruhi before she could get out and put a hand on her shoulder, "I think they're upstairs."

"Who is?" Haruhi asked perplexed as to what her fiancé was talking about.

Mori sweat dropped and would have face palmed at her cluelessness, but didn't think he should do that in front of Haruhi, "Who else would invade your home?"

Thinking about what he just said, Haruhi groaned, "Are you telling me they are waiting for us? Did Hunny warn you?"

"No, he is not responding. I just have this feeling."

"But we didn't tell them when we would be back. Maybe they don't know," Haruhi knew she was grasping at straws and face palmed when she saw his look of disbelief. She couldn't believe the words left her mouth either. The hosts always found out any information they decided they wanted to know. National secrets meant nothing to these men.

"We can leave," Mori offered knowing that they would have to face them eventually.

Haruhi shot her significant other an incredulous look, "No we can't. I wish we could go back to our vacation, but I think my father might murder Tamaki if we don't show up at some point in time. Well, there is no hope for it. We have to go up there and deal with them. For all we know, they have Hunny tied up and we have to rescue him and his phone." As soon as the words left her mouth, Haruhi knew she used the wrong ones. She could tell Mori didn't like the sound of that and the frown on his face said as much. Grabbing his arm with one hand, she used the other hand to cup his cheek, "I was joking. I am sure Hunny is fine and you know that if they tried anything with him, he would kick their asses."

Taking a deep breath to calm down, Mori released it slowly. She was right; there was no way the Host Club got the jump on his short cousin… not if they wanted to live. When he felt he was ready, he nodded, "Let's go up and see what they did."

As they made their way up the stairs and into the apartment, they didn't know what they would find, but they weren't prepared for what they faced inside the small apartment. Opening the door they, well Haruhi, expected to be mauled and manhandled. Nothing happened. They stepped into the abode and removed their shoes. They saw Kyoya standing near the living room and they could hear Ranka screeching (probably at Tamaki), but they didn't see the other four; however, approaching the living room, they could see why Haruhi was not fighting for her last breath… Hunny was sitting on top of a pile of beaten Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru giggling and indulging in a piece of cake. Ranka was standing next to the pile giving a piece of his mind to Tamaki.

Haruhi dead panned and could feel the shock taking over, "Wh-What happened?"

Hunny swiftly turned his head to face the voice he just heart, "HARU-CHAN! TAKASHI! Did you have a good vacation?"

"Haruhi! My baby girl is home again!" Ranka ran to his daughter and pulled her into a tight embrace. Sometimes she wished she could stop him like she did Tamaki, but she knew that wouldn't be the right thing to do.

"Hi dad," Haruhi grumbled as she was finally released and immediately stood beside more hoping the taller man would be a deterrent to the Fujioka patriarch.

"Mitsukuni?" Mori knew his cousin would understand his question.

His face turning fierce, a dark aura started to surround the short blonde, "They took my phone and broke it so that I couldn't call you and tell you that they were here. They said they wanted it to be a surprise."

"Yes, it would seem that our trio of idiots grabbed Hunny-senpai's phone and threw it over the railing as soon as we arrived and it is no longer working," Kyoya shook his head and pushed up his glasses.

"How long have you been here?" Haruhi inquired still reeling from the fact that Hunny played a non-playful game of king of the mountain and won.

Glancing at his watch, Kyoya stated with a malicious smile, "We have only been here approximately 30 minutes. These three wanted to get here much sooner, but well let's just say I made Tamaki clean up the mushrooms in my bedroom before I allowed him to leave."

Haruhi told herself she did not want to know. She told herself not to ask, but that didn't stop the question from getting spoken, "What did he do this time, and why do I get the feeling that you didn't simply make him clean up the mushrooms?"

Pushing up his glasses and creating a glare, Kyoya smirked, "Whatever do you mean Haruhi?"

"Don't play innocent with me Kyoya-senpai," Haruhi chuckled shaking her head.

"I merely told him that he needed to give you and Mori-senpai space and that he could see you at school in a couple of days. That led to him crying about how I as the mother should care more than I do. I informed him that I did care and that is why I am giving you alone time unlike him and the twins who showed up as unwanted guests on a private vacation. He was cultivating mushrooms in a matter of minutes after that. I made him clean up the mess by eating every last one of them; however, to get him to finally leave his corner and my room, I had to promise to bring him here," the Shadow King chuckled giving chills to all of the occupants of the room. That was no ordinary laugh.

Haruhi sweat dropped, "Remind me to never mess with you Kyoya-senpai." Turning towards the living pile of bodies, Haruhi sighed, "Hunny, how about we go get you a new phone and you let them up?"

"Sure Haru-Chan!" The little loli shota beamed as he hopped off of his perch.

Rolling her eyes as the three trouble makers started to come to. Tamaki was on the bottom of the pile, so it took him a little longer than the twins. As soon as Hikaru and Kaoru saw Haruhi, the rushed to her side and pulled her away from Mori to make a Haruhi sandwich.

"We missed you!" They declared together.

"Let me go," Haruhi ordered, but alas they did not. "If you don't let me go, I will be forced to take action like I did after you got out of the helicopter." That did the trick. The twins immediately released her and took three very large steps backward away from her.

"So all three of them got a taste of your skills the last time?" Kyoya inquired.

"That would be correct…" She was going to continue, but a loud yell rent the air.

"HARUHI! MY BABY IS BACK HOME WHERE SHE BELONGS!" Tamaki was up off of the floor and quickly pulling Haruhi into his arms.

Trying to remain calm, Haruhi commanded Tamaki, "Tamaki-senpai, put me down and let me go."

Tamaki squeezed harder, "But Haruhi, daddy missed you and that mean neighbor took you away from me for so long!"

"We were gone less than a week. If you don't let me go, I will make you let me go," Haruhi bade.

"You don't…" Tamaki never finished what he was saying because one minute he was holding onto Haruhi like she was his life line and the next minute his hand was pinched and he loosened his grip which allowed Haruhi to elbow him in the gut, spin around and using the force of her hand and a well-placed foot, he was pushed and tripped to the floor hard. The breath was knocked out of him.

Dusting off her hands, she looked at the Host Club King who was looking at her with disbelieving eyes, "I told you to let me go."

"Haruhi that was magnificent!" Ranka gushed and pulled her in for another hug that was reminiscent of the hug she just got out of. _"I really wish sometimes I could teach my father a few lessons," _she thought to herself. "Dad, put me down," she tried to order him, but knew he would not release her until he wanted to. Pinching his hand when she felt like she was running out of oxygen, she was finally free and gasping for breath. Facing Hunny, she smiled, "Are you ready to go get your new phone?"

"Yay, let's go! Can we stop for some more cake also?" Hunny laughed. Haruhi had taken to karate and kendo like a fish to water and it did not surprise him that she was getting stronger. She had tried to warn Tamaki, so no one could blame her for her actions.

"Can we come too?" Hikaru asked grinning from ear to ear at what she did to Tamaki.

Kaoru sniggered, "Yah, we want to come look at new phones too!"

Smiling sweetly at both of them, Haruhi nodded, "Of course you can come… you three are buying him the new phone since you are the ones that broke his in the first place. You three are also buying him cake to make up for what you did today."

If this was a taste of what Haruhi had to look forward to in the new school year, she knew it wasn't going to be boring and she was positive that her karate skills would become finely honed by the end of her second year. Mori may not be able to be there all of the time, but he did make sure she could take care of herself. Yes, the new school year for both of them would be an interesting new endeavor.


	4. Meet the Parents

**A/N: Well it looks like Mori's Bitter Days won and that is the new title. Thanks everyone! As we can already tell, Haruhi and Mori are going to have their hands full. Mori may not be in high school any longer, but that doesn't mean he is ready to leave his fiancée to three crazy people, with the leader being especially loony. Haruhi can take care of herself, but how much practice is she going to get outside of the dojo. We are already at 2 and school hasn't started yet. Mtnikolle… I have discussed the counter with Kyoya, and he has agreed to upgrade our current counter for a small fee because he feels he will get some good laughs from the number of times Tamaki will be "hit". The new counter will record any action Haruhi uses to defend herself including the bad habits she may obtain from Satoshi with shinai hitting. I am supposed to give a disclaimer that I don't condone her actions nor encourage them (but I really do), and that neither she nor I can be held liable or responsible for damage to Tamaki or the twins. Thank you. Enjoy the new chapter!**

**PS… Poll still going on. Kyoya and Mori are tied for first.**

Chapter 4 – Meet the Parents

It was the day before school started and Haruhi was at Mori's house watching him spar with his brother. She loved the way he moved gracefully across the mat, striking quickly and hitting precisely to win the point. Satoshi had gotten in a couple of hits, but Mori won every match defeating his younger sibling time and time again.

When they were done with their morning practice, both of them removed their helmets and Satoshi was laughing, "One of these days Taka-bro, I am going to get you. I thought for sure with Haruhi here you would be distracted."

Lifting an eyebrow in question, Mori shook his head, "You should be aware, never distracted little brother."

"Yah, yah, I know," he grinned and turned to Haruhi, "Will you please do something to divert his attention so that I can win for once?"

Laughing, Haruhi replied, "That wouldn't be fair and you know it. Besides, I don't think your brother could be distracted."

"Sadly, you might be right," Satoshi dramatically sighed.

"Now you are starting to sound like Tamaki," she teased the youngest Morinozuka.

Satoshi honestly looked taken aback, "You did not just say that! Takashi, did you hear her?"

Smiling slightly, Mori walked up to his fiancée and pulled her in for a hug, "I heard her." Bending down, he kissed the top of her head, "Let me go take a shower and I will be ready shortly. Satoshi are you coming with us still?"

"Hai! I think Yasuchika is coming also," Satoshi laughed manically giving chills to his future sister-in-law.

"How did you manage that one because I know it wasn't Hunny," Haruhi looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

"I got skills and tricks up my sleeve. I know how to convince him," Satoshi smirked.

Sweat dropping, Haruhi face palmed, "You mean you hit him over the head again until he agreed to go."

The younger brother shrugged his shoulders, "It worked didn't it?"

Shaking her head, Haruhi could do nothing but stare at him. She literally had no words for what she was feeling or thinking, but soon amusement started to take over and what started out as a small snicker, turned into a laugh. When she finally stopped laughing and wiped the tears away from her eyes, she walked up to Satoshi and tapped his face, "You know one of these days he will get you back."

"Nah, I am too quick for him and I always have my trusty shinai with me," he snorted before walking off to get ready to go.

Haruhi sighed and made her way into the main house from the dojo. Today the entire host club was having lunch together and had invited Satoshi and Chika to attend. Chika was refusing to become a new host, but Satoshi was on board with joining the club. The youngest Morinozuka was attempting to convince his best friend to at least give it a chance, but his cousin was being "stubborn and mule headed about it all", to quote the shinai wielding kendo artist.

As she made her way into the living room to await the two men, Haruhi smiled and remembered the first time Mori had brought her home with him. She had already met his parents and sibling at the kendo match, but his parents had wanted to be formally introduced to his new girlfriend since they had been going out for about two weeks at that time. It was also the night of their first real kiss.

**_Flashback…_**

_Mori had just gotten out of a meeting with his parents and immediately called Haruhi. They wanted to invite her over for a family dinner so that he could introduce her to the family as his new girlfriend. He had a feeling his parents wanted to get to know her more, but he was a little nervous since he also didn't want Haruhi to run away feeling too much pressure. In the end, he did what his parents requested and invited her over for dinner, "Haruhi, can you come over for dinner on Friday?"_

_"Friday? I'm pretty sure I can. Is everything alright Takashi?" Haruhi inquired a little confused as to why he sounded a little nervous over the phone._

_"It's fine. My parents would like to be introduced to my girlfriend though," he explained and could feel the blush creeping up his cheeks as he fought it back down. He was glad he was in his room with the door shut and no one could see him. _

_Blushing herself, Haruhi smiled. It was the first time either one of them labeled what they were to the other person, oh it was understood, but never spoken, "Oh, um yah, I will make sure that everything is ok here and that I can come over. Do I need to wear anything in particular?"_

_"It will be informal, but a dress if you are ok with that. If you would like, you can come home with Mitsukuni and I after club ends. We can think of an excuse to tell the others, or Mitsukuni and I can pick you up from your apartment after you get home."_

_"If we can get away with it, I will just ride home with you from school. Is Hunny going to be at dinner also?" She was kind of hoping the answer would be yes because then she would have two people she was comfortable around and it might lessen the stress and uneasiness._

_"Ah, yes, he will be."_

_"Ok," Haruhi smiled and the rest of the conversation was spent on how their day was and just getting to know each other more. They were comfortable with each other and she hoped in two days' time, his parents would be accepting of their relationship because she knew that Mori was already a very important part of her life. _

_The day of the dinner, Haruhi made sure to get to school early so that she could throw her bag with her dress and makeup items into her locker before any of the hosts could see her. She then made her way to class and started to review her notes. She was excited and nervous about the upcoming dinner, but tried to tamp down her emotions so that she didn't have to deal with the egos and emotions of the other hosts. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell them about her and Mori, but right now it was in its infant stages and she wasn't ready to let them interfere with it. Between Tamaki and his daddy act and the twins calling her their toy, she just wanted her relationship with Mori to be simple and easy, free of the drama the others were sure to bring to it so that they could really see what was there and nurture it. Right now it was just best if the others stayed in the dark._

_It wasn't long after she sat down that the twins approached her and wound their arms around her. She tried to ignore them and continue studying, but they hated to be ignored and soon Haruhi was closing her notebook and looking up at the identical faces, "What do you two want?"_

_"We just wanted to greet our toy," Hikaru grinned._

_"And we wanted to ask if you would like to come over tonight and stay for the weekend," Kaoru suggested._

_Shaking her head, Haruhi stated bluntly, "Sorry, I have plans this weekend." She thought about the huge sale at the market and all of the cleaning she had to get done; not to mention the test on Monday she had to study for. _

_"All weekend?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked together._

_"Yep," she responded without offering an explanation._

_The twins would not be deterred and looked at each other before shrugging and entangling themselves around their friend, "Well, what about just tonight?"_

_"Nope, I have dinner plans with an old family friend. The plans were made a few days ago and I can't back out. My dad would be disappointed," she skipped over the truth of whom and that it wasn't really her father that made the plans._

_Sighing, Hikaru said, "Alright, but you need to come over sometime soon."_

_"That's right, we have some outfits we want you to try on," Kaoru smiled at her._

_A night like that did not sound like fun to her, but she also didn't want to hurt their feelings, "Oh alright, but give me a little notice so that I can make arrangements with my dad."_

_"Hey, when are we going to be able to come over to your house?" Hikaru spoke up curious about what her house would look like since she was a commoner._

_"Um never?" Haruhi muttered and opened her book again this time effectively shutting the twins out. _

_After the Host Club was closed for the day and the ladies were gone, Haruhi felt herself being pulled into a tight squeeze. Tamaki had ambushed her, "Put me down senpai!"_

_"Haruhi you are just too adorable!" The king of the Host Club squealed._

_"Let me go!" _

_Tamaki was spinning her around overly excited and dramatic as usual, "Daddy was so proud of you today! Come on, daddy will take you out for a treat for doing so well!"_

_"You are not my father. I already have one, now put me down! I am not going anywhere with you!" Haruhi yelled and tried to squirm her way out of his embrace, and soon found herself being lifted into the sky and away from Tamaki. She looked down into the eyes of her boyfriend and smiled, "Thank you Mori-senpai."_

_"Give her back Mori-senpai. We were just having daddy/daughter time!" Tamaki cried._

_"No," Mori set Haruhi behind him and faced his blonde friend with narrowed eyes. The affect was instantaneous as he watched Tamaki run to his corner of woe a depressed aura surrounding him as he muttered to himself._

_When Haruhi was finished with her cleaning duties, she looked around the room and noticed that Tamaki and the twins were already gone. This made things a whole lot easier for her and Mori. Grabbing her bag from the back, she walked towards the doors of the music room and called out, "I will see all of you on Monday." _

_Mori and Hunny knew that she was leaving first and making it appear that they were not leaving together and smiled inwardly. Looking at his cousin, he watched Hunny take his last bite of cake. Mori grabbed the plate and took it into the kitchen and rinsed it off before walking back into the music room and saying his good byes to Kyoya. Walking down the staircase, he could see Haruhi waiting for him at the bottom and he felt his heart race. When he was standing next to her, he let his hand brush her briefly before asking, "Are you ready to go?"_

_"Yep," Haruhi smiled and together they made their way out of the school and into the waiting car. She got dressed after she arrived and when she exited the room she had been changing in, she found Mori in the hall waiting for her, "Hey Takashi."_

_Mori studied her face and could see that she was a little anxious, but he also saw the determination in her eyes to win his parents over and he felt a rush of emotion engulf him. Linking their fingers together, they went into the large living room where everyone was waiting for them. He knew the interrogation was about to happen and he hoped that Haruhi was still around at the end of the night. _

_Entering the living room, they found his parents sitting with Hunny and two other teens that Haruhi recognized at Hunny and Mori's younger brothers. Both she and Mori bowed to show respect towards the Morinozuka patriarch and matriarch. _

_"Mother, father, I know you met at my competition, but this is Haruhi Fujioka, my girlfriend," Mori introduced Haruhi to those present._

_"It is good to see you again," Michiko Morinozuka rushed over to the girl and pulled her into a hug. _

_Smiling, Haruhi hugged Mori's mother back and stated, "It is nice to see you again as well. Thank you for inviting me tonight Morinozuka-san, Morinozuka-sama." She had butterflies in her stomach and was extremely nervous, but the warm welcome helped her. She just wanted to make a good impression on them._

_"It is our pleasure. Please have a seat," Akira gestured so a loveseat that was unoccupied, "This is our youngest son, Satoshi; and this is Mitsukuni's younger brother, Yasuchika."_

_Haruhi gave everyone her best host smile and felt the hand she was gripping in her give hers a slight squeeze. She momentarily glanced up at her boyfriend and let out the breath she had been holding, "It is nice to meet all of you again."_

_Michiko could tell that the girl was nervous and in her situation, who wouldn't be, but Haruhi had impressed her the first day she had been introduced to the scholarship student. She was bright, funny, spoke plainly, and was polite. Not many students who didn't have the pedigree and money could get into Ouran, and it spoke volumes that she had taken it upon herself to get into the school. Both she and her husband were very taken with the girl and could not find fault with her at all. In fact as the night progressed, they found themselves liking her a lot more and approving of the match entirely. Haruhi was good for Mori and they could both see the small changes she brought out in him just in the two weeks that they had been dating. They would continue to support their son in his relationship with Haruhi._

_When it was time for Haruhi to leave, Hunny decided to stay behind and go home with his brother in order to give the couple some time alone. He loved the fact that Mori and Haruhi were dating because he could see how much they cared for each other. Now, he had to just keep the other hosts from ruining all of his hard work. That was going to be the difficult part._

_The car ride was quiet as the couple was driven to Haruhi's home and when they arrived, Mori got out with his girlfriend in order to walk her to the door. He was edgy and second guessing himself. He had wanted to kiss her all night. More than just the pecks on the cheeks they had been giving each other, but a real kiss. Could he do it though? He wasn't sure any longer and he was normally the calmest man his friends knew. _

_Haruhi could tell that something was going on with Mori, but she wasn't sure what it was. As they approached her door she heard him take in a deep breath and release it slowly, almost as if he was trying to prepare himself for something. Was this going to be bad news? She could have sworn his parents accepted her tonight. Unlocking the door, Haruhi turned around to bid her boyfriend good bye when she saw his face getting steadily closer to hers. Her eyes drifted closed and she soon felt his lips touch hers in a chaste but perfect first kiss. When they pulled apart, she blinked a few times and smiled. One more kiss and then Mori was telling her he would call her the next day. She never wanted him to stop kissing her._

**_End of flashback…_**

That night she knew she never wanted to be apart from him and it looked like she was going to get her wish. Hearing running behind her pulled her from her thoughts and she turned around to see Satoshi rushing towards her, "Where's your brother?"

"Huh? Oh mom was asking him a question," he smiled.

Haruhi noticed that he was carrying a shinai in his hand and shook her head as she held her hand out to him, "Give it."

"Why?"

"Because you don't need it at lunch."

"I might! Yasuchika has a hard head and when he is being rude, he needs to be taught manners!" Satoshi lost the argument when he felt his bamboo stick ripped out of his hands and looked to his right to see his brother standing there holding the shinai that was previously in his hands, "Taka-bro?"

"She's right. You don't need it; and I told you that you needed to be aware and not distracted," Mori said smiling as he patted his brother's head.

"Fine, but if he misbehaves and I can't control him, it isn't my fault," Satoshi declared making his way to the front door so that they could leave.

Haruhi laughed, "Your complaint has been duly noted and filed away for future reference." She felt Mori approach and then stood on her toes to give him a kiss, "Come on; let's go see what trouble the club has in store for us today."


	5. First Day Ambush

**A/N: Before I get to the AN for this chapter, I wanted to let you know that I have started to beta for a story by Twi-chick34 called Love Like No Other (Kyoya/Haruhi pairing). Take a look if you get a chance. Ok, now for this story. The new counter has been installed, thank you mtnikolle. Kyoya has assured me that it is top of the line and we should be able to get use out of it for years to come, which is a good thing since Bitter 3 will be set into the future. He also informed me that if I continue allowing Tamaki to be made an example of, he will not charge for any upgrades we may need in the future. Thank you oh benevolent Shadow King. Tamaki would like to say he doesn't like all the throwing, but he doesn't really have a choice in the matter since I am the author and my readers like seeing him fly. HEHEHE! You do want the fans to be happy, right Tamaki? So, now that that is out of the way, enjoy the new chapter and please review if you can. **

**PS... Independence Day is up. Mori won the poll, so the pairing will be Mori/Haruhi. Go check it out if you haven't already. **

Chapter 5 – First Day Ambush

Haruhi eyeballed the new uniform she was going to have to start wearing and cringed. She may not have had a problem with it when the twins soaked her in water and Kyoya had said it was the only dry one available, but times change and she has had time to think about it; and she has decided the boy's uniform is so much less constricting and so much more comfortable. Sighing, she realized there was no help for it; she would be dressing in the "lovely" yellow dress until her time at Ouran was complete.

As she finished getting ready, she thought about lunch the previous day. They had finally convinced Chika to give hosting a trial run. He was only going to be joining them twice a week until karate club tryouts were completed and the club moved to its new time. It was a compromise everyone agreed to because something we better than nothing, and they understood karate was his priority. Haruhi chuckled to herself when she thought about what finally tipped the scales in their favor...

**_Flashback…_**

_"Yasuchika, think about it like this, you can have unlimited access to watch Haruhi practice her new skills on Tamaki-senpai," Satoshi announced._

_"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?" Tamaki gaped._

_Mori could see the interest in his young cousin's eyes, "And you could help protect Haruhi from the others for me."_

_Sputtering, Tamaki screeched, "Why do you need to protect my daughter from me?!" He ran over to Haruhi and grabbed her out of her chair. Without giving him a warning this time, Haruhi grabbed his fingers and pulled them back causing him to cry out in pain. She then twisted her body and threw him over her shoulder and to the ground._

_"That is the second time today Tamaki-senpai. You got a warning the first time it happened," Haruhi told him with a straight face and sat back down next to Mori. _

_Looking between both of his cousins, he knew he could not turn down the invitation. On one hand he would be able to watch Haruhi make a fool of the Host Club king more so than he already has, and on the other hand, he would be doing a favor for family. Family was important and Haruhi was going to be a part of his someday. Grumbling, he finally conceded, "Alright, but until tryouts are over and we move to our new time, I will only be there Monday and Friday."_

_"That will be acceptable," Kyoya stated as he pushed up his glasses._

**_End Flashback…_**

It may not be the most upstanding reasons to join the Host Club, but then again, when the others joined it was for selfish reasons. Now they were a family and stayed because they had found more in the club than they could have imagined.

As Haruhi stepping outside of her apartment and locked it, she ran face first into something. Looking up, she found she was gazing into the grey eyes of her fiancé. "Takashi, it seems like we have been in this situation before," she giggled smiling as she recalled the day he proposed to her. "I thought I was going to see you after school."

"We have and you will. I thought I would take you to school your first day back since Mitsukuni and I don't start classes for another couple of days," Mori returned the smile and took her bag from her. He glanced over her new uniform, "It is different seeing you in the yellow."

"It isn't as comfortable as the other uniform."

"We could have asked if you could still wear the boy's uniform."

"No, it wouldn't be fair to the other girls in the school. I will just wear this and deal with it. I was going to have to wear it sooner or later anyway, it is just Tamaki took it out of my hands," she grumbled as they approached the car and got in.

Sitting next to Haruhi, he grabbed her hand and laced his fingers with hers, "Are you going to be alright today?"

Haruhi sighed and leaned her head against his strong arm, "I will be fine. I just wish you were still at Ouran with me."

"I wish I could be there too," he whispered as he leaned down and kissed the top of her head, "But I think you will find that you are going to be busy with your studies and Host Club, so the time will go by quickly. Then you and I will see each other as much as we can outside of school."

"In theory I know that we have our plan and it will be ok, but in reality it is not going to be the same. Oh well, we will get through it. Right?"

"Right," Mori grinned and leaned down to capture her lips in a sweet gentle kiss that both parties thought ended too soon.

"Where are Satoshi and Chika?" Haruhi asked as she settled next to Mori once again.

Chuckling, Mori answered, "They said they would wait for us at the drop off location so that they can help us with crowd control."

This had Haruhi laughing, "I almost fooled myself into believing that everything would be fine, but I guess we do have to deal with the others."

As the car approached the school, Haruhi and Mori could see a small crowd forming at the front of the entrance to Ouran. Chika, Satoshi, and the other hosts (minus Hunny) were already there talking to the girls and trying to calm them down. The wild type host looked down at the girl beside him, "Are you ready for this?"

"I don't guess we have much of a choice, do we?" Haruhi murmured and made sure her best host smile was in place as the car came to a stop and she exited the car with Mori.

The moment Haruhi and Mori appeared together the screams increased and it appeared to be controlled pandemonium… barely contained at that. Shouts of "MOE" and girls crying could be heard as the couple tried to make its way into the building. Mori made sure to keep a tight grasp on Haruhi's hand as students surrounded them (mainly girls). The other hosts tried to help, even Kyoya was trying to do what he could, but the crowd wanted Haruhi and Mori and they would not be swayed.

"Is it true?" One girl shouted to be heard.

With help from Mori, Haruhi was finally able to quiet the mob, "Sorry everyone, but I am a girl and was hiding my gender to pay-off a debt. It is also true that Takashi and I found love in the Host Club and we are now engaged to be married."

More cries of "MOE" and shouts of "Congratulations" could be heard throughout the crowd. It seemed like the crowd was generally happy for them, but when looking around the crowd, it was also easy to see the hurt that the couple inflicted with their announcement.

It took almost 30 minutes, but Mori was finally able to get Haruhi through the crowd and to her first period class, "Are you going to be alright the rest of the day?"

"Don't worry Mori-senpai, we got this," the twins sidled up to Haruhi and snaked their arms around her.

Rolling his eyes, he asked his fiancée again, "Are you going to be alright the rest of the day?"

Haruhi nodded and stepped on her tip toes while he leaned down and kissed him on his cheek, "I will be alright. I am sure between your brother, Chika, and the others, they will keep me from harm; and if Tamaki tries anything, then I know what to do." She added that last part knowing it would make him smile and she was right. It was small, but it appeared.

Patting her head and ruffling her hair, Mori leaned down and kissed the top of her head, "If you need me, call me."

"I will. Now go before you're ambushed again," Haruhi laughed and watched as Mori nodded and made his way down the hall in order to leave the school grounds. Once he had walked away, she noticed a small crowd was forming and decided it was time to find her seat in the classroom. Giving everyone a wave and a smile, she took her seat between the twins for her first period.

Mori was a little worried about how the day was going to proceed for Haruhi, not only did she have to deal with Tamaki and the twins antics, but the whole school was buzzing because she was a girl and they were engaged. He wanted nothing more than to attend her classes with her that first day and remain at her side, but he knew that was not possible. Instead he put his trust in his friends, brother, and cousin; hoping when he saw her during club time, she would still be intact.

Haruhi's was at the end of her rope by the time she dragged herself to music room three and was thankful that today was just a meeting and they would not be open to the public until the next day. However, that did not stop a mob from forming outside of the music room doors with the hopes of seeing their favorite host before the club was officially opened for business. By the time she made it to the opposite side of the doors and in relative safety, her temper was short and it was taking all her patience not to snap at people; a deadly combination when the president thinks of Haruhi as his daughter.

"Haruhi! You're late! Are you ok do you need anything? Tell daddy and he will…. AGH!" Tamaki had been running to her spouting off a bunch of nonsense, but before he could grab her, she had grabbed one of his arms and tripped him sending him to the floor. Her hand was still holding his.

"Tamaki-senpai, I have had a very long day with question and answer session in each of my classes, not to mention between classes and lunch time. The last thing I want is for you to ambush me and squeeze me to death in your embrace today," Haruhi growled before stepping away from him and allowing him to get up.

Tamaki scrambled to his feet and immediately ran to his corner. He just didn't understand why Haruhi was so mean to him.

Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Haruhi turned around to see Mori standing there with concern in his eyes, "It's fine Takashi, just been a long day."

Studying for her a moment, Mori asked, "Did anyone try to hurt you or bother you?"

"Not unless you include Tamaki and the twins, but I took care of them. Luckily only Hikaru had to go flying at lunch before they remembered not to use me in tug-o-war. Everyone else was just really inquisitive and it seemed like I was answering the same questions over and over again," Haruhi forced a smile to her face.

Mori looked at the trio of trouble makers and they all looked sheepish unwilling to look him in the eye. If he wasn't mistaken, they were also moving further away from him. Exhaling, Mori bent down and gave his favorite girl a small kiss, "After this do you want to go and get dinner?"

Thinking about all of the homework she had, she was tempted to say no, but the greater temptation that she would not have to cook tonight won out, "Sounds good."

"We will also get something for your father for later," he smiled.

"We don't have to. Dad won't be home tonight since he is going out with one of his friends later," she explained, "But if you want, you are more than welcome to come over and help me with my homework."

Chuckling, Mori nodded, "I can do that."

"Haru-Chan! How was your first day back to school?" Hunny ran up to her throwing his arms around her in a hug. He had been trying to give the couple space before he glomped the girl and just couldn't wait to greet his friend any longer.

Haruhi returned the embrace and stepped back, "It was long and tiring, and I am just glad it is over with." Looking around the room, she noticed that two members were missing, "Where are Chika and Satoshi? I thought they would be here today since it is Monday."

"They had a karate club meeting to explain about the tryouts and the club dynamics for potential members," Kyoya approached pushing up his glasses, "Now if we can get this meeting started, the sooner we begin the sooner we can end. Tamaki come over here and join us or else."

That simple statement from the Shadow King got Tamaki out of his corner and back to the group. The meeting wasn't anything important; they were just reviewing how the new club would operate with the new hosts and since Mori and Hunny would only be there part-time. Everything was stuff that they had reviewed prior. The only additional item was that they were opening with a cosplay. "The final item on the agenda is tomorrow's theme," Kyoya stated.

"We are doing Beauty and the Beast!" Tamaki announced excitedly. Practically bouncing out of his seat, he turned to face Haruhi, "And you are going to be Belle!"

"Oh whoopee," she grumbled sarcastically, and then asked, "Who is everyone else going to be?"

Adjusting his glasses, Kyoya scanned his notes, "Hunny-senpai will be Chip, Tamaki will be Gaston…"

"I thought I was the prince," Tamaki whined interrupting his friend.

"You were, but I made a slight adjustment. Shall I continue?"

"But I wanted to be the prince," the blonde cried.

Kyoya decided to ignore his best friend at that moment and read the remaining parts, "The twins will be Lumiere and Cogsworth, Mori-senpai will be the Beast, and I will be Maurice. Since Satoshi and Chika will not be with us tomorrow, we did not create parts for them. Are there any questions?"

"But mommy, I thought I was going to be the prince," Tamaki bemoaned his fate.

"Tamaki, Mori and Haruhi are together and have come out with their secret. People will expect for them to host together. It only makes sense that Mori is the Beast if Haruhi is Belle. Now is there anything else?" Kyoya tried to not sound exasperated, but he always found it difficult when dealing with his best friend. No one else seemed to have anything to say, so the meeting was dismissed and everyone was free to go.

Slowly walking up to Haruhi, Tamaki asked her in a quiet voice, "Can I take you home?"

"I'm sorry Tamaki-senpai, but Takashi and I are going to dinner. I thought you heard that earlier," the female host tried to be polite, but was still irritated with him.

With Haruhi's bag under his arm, Mori approached and somehow managed to keep from slapping the blonde. He would have thought that his presence that day meant that he was going to be taking Haruhi home, why was Tamaki asking if he could give her a ride. The half Frenchman was exasperating sometimes, "Are you ready to go?"

Smiling up at the man that had claimed her heart, Haruhi told him, "Yah, let's see if the crowd has died down so that we can make our escape."

Before he followed Haruhi, Mori turned to Tamaki and spoke in hushed tones, "She is with me and when I am here, I will be giving her a ride unless she wants it otherwise. If I am not here, you are not to force yourself on her because I will make sure my brother and Chika are here to make sure she is not harassed… not that she can't take care of herself now." With that said, he followed his fiancée to the door and together they opened it to find a few stragglers still there. It took them a little extra time to get down to the car, but soon they were on their way and they could forget about Ouran for now.

Back in the club room, Kyoya walked up to Tamaki, "He is right. You should have known better than to ask to give an engaged girl a ride home when her fiancé was in the room."

"It was just a ride Kyoya," Tamaki declared before he walked to the back room and grabbed his bag.

Kyoya knew there was more to it than that, he just hoped that Tamaki realized what he was doing before it was too late. He cared about his friend and didn't want to see him hurt more than he already has been.


	6. Tale as Old as Time

**A/N: A similar reason was given to Chika to be there during the Host Club demo in Haruhi's Bitter Days, but apparently it still works on him. Have to appeal to his weaknesses and come on… who wouldn't help Mori if he asked you? I know I would. LOL. Mtnikolle… love the new name of the counter. I talked to Kyoya once again, and he has given us the upgrades. We are now keeping track of the amount of times anyone flies and it doesn't matter who takes them down (i.e. Tamaki being taken down by Hunny). HAHA. Tamaki might not like his new role in the cosplay, but seriously he isn't the only prince in the club. XD. Have fun with the new chapter!**

**PS… if you haven't seen it, Cyra Hafise and I did a one shot (actually we are doing additional rules/lessons to publish due to demand) called Ouran for Dummies. Go check it out if you haven't. Also Independence Day is up (Mori won) and in chapter 4… well let's just say Tamaki learns a very important lesson.**

Chapter 6 – Tale As Old As Time

"Oh my daughter, how I have missed you!" Tamaki rushed to Haruhi's side as she stepped out of the car with Satoshi and Chika following. He had her in his arms and swinging her around before anyone could do anything. He was completely ignoring the small crowd of students that had gathered to gawk at Haruhi and who they hoped would be Mori arriving with her.

Haruhi was struggling trying to break free of her friend's grasp, but he was swinging her so hard her feet were flying behind her and her arms were pinned to her sides unable to move. She was for all intents and purposes trapped in the cage of Tamaki's embrace. "Let me go senpai!" She screamed struggling to escape from his grip… and then she fell on her butt on the ground hissing in pain as Tamaki grabbed his head.

"OW!" Spinning around, Tamaki found the culprit of his current headache… Satoshi was standing there with his shinai at the ready for another blow to the head in case it was needed. "What did you do that for? You should know that as a host it is not gentlemanly to beat up your senpais and it is unhostlike to attack when it is not warranted, my dear Satoshi. Don't worry; under my guidance I will make you and Yasuchika into the proper hosts!"

As Satoshi took care of Tamaki, Chika went to help Haruhi to her feet, but as soon as he heard those words, he couldn't help but groan, "Kill me now."

Chuckling, Haruhi dusted herself off as she stood behind the young Haninozuka knowing it would dissuade him from attempting to glomp her again. "Ignore him when he gives you his lessons. We all do for the most part," she whispered so that only Chika could hear her.

Tamaki saw movement out of the corner of his eye and caught Haruhi dusting herself off, "What happened, Haruhi? Did you fall? Did one of the miscreants push you?" He tried to console her, but he was afraid of Chika and stayed put.

"More like an overzealous Host Club wannabe king swung her around and dropped her on her posterior," Chika glared at the blonde standing in front of him knowing that he was very afraid of him.

"Who would do that to her and try to take my title? Only I am allowed to touch Haruhi like that!" Tamaki questioned looking around the school yard for the pretender.

Satoshi and Chika shared a look and both were wondering the same thing, _"Is he serious or is he stupid?"_ They both shifted their gazes to Haruhi in question. She was shaking her head with one hand on her forehead in exasperation. Eyes moving back towards Tamaki, Chika finally growled, "It was you, you moron!"

"And you are **not** allowed to touch her like that!" Satoshi yelled. He noticed that the crowd that was there to greet them had grown exponentially.

"Of course I am because I am her father and I am just showing her affection!" Tamaki argued.

"Um guys I think we should drop this and move indoors," Haruhi sweat dropped.

"I will have to agree with Haruhi," Kyoya stated seemingly appearing out of nowhere, "Tamaki you are making a spectacle once again. Leave her alone, we have to get to class before we are late."

Looking around him, the Host Club president was finally aware of what was going on around him, "You are right as ever Kyoya. Don't worry my beautiful daughter, I will see you later. Daddy loves you!"

Haruhi face palmed and growled. She just couldn't believe the idiocy of Tamaki sometimes. Exhaling, she addressed her two friends, "Thanks for the help this morning guys. I am sure Takashi would approve." She was grinning and snickering when she said the last part and continued, "I know I do."

"Oh so you aren't going to take away my shinai from me today?" Satoshi grinned.

"Nope, it was the appropriate action taken and I cannot fault you… but leave Chika alone," she winked.

Rolling his eyes, Chika said, "Come on; let's get you to class safely."

"I can get to class on my own. You don't have to walk me," Haruhi stated plainly.

Both teens looked around them at the crowd observing everything: some had hearts in their eyes, some looked jealous, and some looked confused as to what happened. No, it was probably safer if they escorted her to her class. "Never the less, we will escort you. We told Takashi that we would make sure you got to your first period classroom with no problems. What kind of 'hosts' would we be if we didn't actually take you to class?" Chika smirked.

Haruhi started to laugh, "Ok, you can take me to class." She had seen the crowd, but she didn't think it was a big deal and the sooner things got back to normal, the better. Even knowing that some of the girls were jealous of her "new" situation, she didn't think they would actually do anything to her. Then again, she did have to deal with a bully when she first joined the host club… maybe it would be better to be escorted to class for a few days.

Satoshi and Chika had both seen the slight change in Haruhi's expression and wondered at it, but they didn't press the issue. Instead Chika picked up her bag where it had been dropped due to Tamaki's enthusiasm and Satoshi offered her his arm as they entered the school and walked her to class. Something had happened to her to make a small bit of apprehension appear on her face, and they both silently agreed whatever had put it there would never happen to her again because she was now a part of the Morinozuka and Haninozuka families.

The day produced another round of question and answers for Haruhi. Some girls accused her of ensnaring Mori, but most of the girls were just curious about how everything started for her and the stoic host. So she once again wove her story of romance between her and the tallest host capturing the girls attention and dreams of their own prince charming, "It wasn't something that happened overnight, but I slowly started to realize that I had a crush on him and then when I went to his kendo competition and he asked me out to dinner, I couldn't help but say yes."

"AWE!" The girls sighed with want. That was the kind of love story that they wanted and wondered where their Mr. Right was. Could it be one of the remaining hosts? They were the most romantic and observant of a woman's needs. The girls that heard the tale decided to redouble their efforts to woo and get to know the other hosts. Oh they knew their chances were slim, but right now fake romance was better than no romance since many of them were going to be subject to arranged marriages anyway. Some girls that had never been customers of the Host Club decided to visit and see if they could find romance themselves.

Mori had been a little worried about his fiancée throughout the day and wondered if she was ok without him. His brother had already called and told him of the little mishap this morning, and that made him shake his head and roll his eyes. Then he took his frustrations out on a bunch of straw and his katana. He could already tell that this was going to be a long year and it was just starting.

"Takashi," Akira called out to his son. He could tell that his eldest was irritated about something and he had a feeling it had to do with his fiancé; not that Haruhi had done anything wrong, but he knew that there were certain people around her that did not appreciate the fact that she was engaged and had given her heart to the Morinozuka heir.

Looking behind him, Mori lowered the sword as he saw his father approach him. Bowing to show him respect, he straightened and asked, "Yes father?"

"What has you so upset?"

"Nothing that I cannot handle."

Akira nodded and placed his hand upon his son's shoulder, "But will you be dealing with your frustrations on the mat or in the club room?" He laughed when he saw the surprise on Mori's face, "Do not forget I have my sources. What happened this time?"

He knew he couldn't get out of talking to his father, but at the same time he wanted to be able to deal with this little problem on his own. He respected his father's opinion and he counted him as more than just a parent, they were close as some fathers and sons weren't. He and Satoshi both shared a special bond with Akira, and they both cherished it. Sighing, he finally answered, "Tamaki grabbed Haruhi as she was getting out of the car this morning. She couldn't defend herself this time, so Satoshi hit him over the head with a shinai. He dropped her to the ground and she fell instead of landing on her feet. Yesterday he offered her a ride home when I was standing in the room. I know he has feelings for her, but it has been about six months since we told them, he needs to move on by now."

"I see."

"It was even due to his over exuberance and daddy act that he revealed her secret stealing it out of her hands. For the most part the students seem accepting of her. I guess the reaction would have been the same regardless of if she told everyone or if it was revealed in the manner it was, but it should have been her choice."

"I agree. Have you talked to him about his 'role' in her life?" Akira knew his son and Haruhi had probably had many discussions because that was the type of people they were, but he never wanted to assume anything.

Mori nodded, "We have. I told him yesterday that he was to leave her alone and if I was there, I would be giving her a ride. I also told her not to harass her because I would make sure Yasuchika and Satoshi were there to help her if needed. It is just frustrating that he cannot get past this all. I feel like I am still fighting for her hand even though I know she is by my side."

"Do you think she would leave you for one of the others? That doesn't sound like Haruhi."

"No father, I don't. I know she would stick with me and stay by my side. She is committed to this relationship and she will marry me, but I feel like I can't let my guard down around Tamaki; and although he seems to have backed off, Hikaru also. He and Kaoru still hang on her and call her their toy. She lets them because she feels sorry for them and believes that it is all in jest. I can still see that Hikaru has feelings for her though, and even though he has never admitted it, Kaoru does too. I don't think his brother is aware of that however, and I know Haruhi isn't; but that isn't saying much when it comes to her. I think given the opportunity Tamaki would try to take her away from me. I hate not being there and being able to watch over her."

Laughing, Akira shook his head, "To curse the year you were born will not help you, and if you changed that, you might change who you are with. She might not have seen you and you might not have fallen for her. However, you need to look at your blessings. You might have left Ouran, but you are still able to attend club with her every week, even if it is not daily. Your brother entered the high school as you were leaving and can be there to watch over her and make sure she is kept safe and out of the clutches of someone that would not have the purest intentions for her. You may not be there for her physically, but she knows you are with her in her heart and you have two very capable people to help her in case something was to happen. She also has the Morinozuka and Haninozuka family names to help her if needed. The fight that you perceive is already won and you were the victor."

"I know you are right father," Mori started trying to choose his words carefully, but his father spoke before he could.

"But it is not the same thing as you being there yourself. I know this well. Let me ask you a question… you still have two years before she graduates. Next year Tamaki will not be in school with her, will you relax your guard then?"

"Probably not father," Mori grinned.

"Good, you shouldn't. Just remember that Haruhi is a capable young woman and she loves you. She is worthy to join this family and we couldn't think of anyone better for you."

"I know father. Thank you."

"Now shouldn't you be getting ready to pick up Mitsukuni so that you can go up to the school for Host Club?"

"Hai!" Mori bowed and walked with Akira into the house so that he could get ready. He felt better after that talk and knew his father was right. They were together and belonged to each other, and one of these days in the future they would be married. That was the day he looked forward and longed for.

When Mori and Hunny arrived at Ouran, there was still ten minutes left in the last class period. Instead of making their way to the club room to get ready, they decided to meet Haruhi at her classroom and walk her to the music room to ward off any further incidents like the one from this morning.

The last bell rang and students got up to exit the classroom, and then they stopped. Haruhi grabbed her things, but couldn't make it past the mob that had formed by the door and wondered what could be going on in the hall that everyone would just stop like that. She looked at the clock, she didn't want to be late, but was starting to think she might be trapped in that classroom for a while. That was until the crowd parted like the Red Sea and Mori was standing in front of her with Hunny on his back. Suddenly her long day felt like a ray of sunshine was hitting it and she beamed, "Hello Takashi, Hunny. I guess you two were the reason for the crowd?" She knew everyone was watching her and the graduated host.

"Yah Haru-Chan!" Hunny giggled and jumped down to greet everyone.

Bending down, Mori gave Haruhi a small kiss, "How was your day?"

"Better now," she smiled.

"We will see all of you in the Host Club if you come today!" Hunny exclaimed and ran over to give Haruhi a hug, "Are you ready to go Haru-Chan?"

"Yep, let's go," she returned his hug and then took the arm Mori offered her.

The trio stopped traffic as they walked down the halls together on their way to music room three, but none of them cared. They were starting to get used to the gawkers; it was other things that they were having a hard time adjusting to. Men were suddenly looking at Haruhi more when want in their eyes, but so far no one had been brave enough to approach her; that could have something to do with the fact that the other hosts, Satoshi, or Chika were always around. Girls were looking at the couple with jealousy or hearts in their eyes and proclaiming "MOE". Then there was a certain person that no matter how many times he grabbed her, neither Haruhi nor Mori could get used to it: Tamaki.

Entering the club room, Haruhi was immediately thrown behind Mori's back as the high pitch squeal made its way to her eardrums. She cringed at that sound and wished he would tone it down a notch or two… or ten.

"Mori-senpai it is good to see you again," Tamaki smiled and then stretched his neck to look behind the tall man, "Haruhi come to daddy! I haven't seen you all day. You disappeared at lunch!"

"That's right because I was having lunch with Chika and Satoshi," Haruhi replied not moving from her spot.

Frowning slightly, Tamaki continued, "But daddies and daughters are supposed to each lunch with each other every day."

"You are not my father and I can have lunch with whomever I want to. I hardly ever ate with you guys last year because I would eat in the classroom, so how is this year any different?" Haruhi retorted.

"But, but, but Haruhi…" Tamaki stammered.

"Stop harassing her Tamaki," Mori ordered and then led Haruhi to the changing room so that she could put on her costume.

Once Mori and Haruhi left Tamaki standing there unmoving as if he was a statue, the host club king collapsed to the floor and curled himself into a little ball, "Daughter doesn't love me. Daughter doesn't want me. Mommy what am I going to do?"

"Tama-Chan, Haru-Chan loves Takashi and you need to realize that she doesn't love you the same. You are her friend though," Hunny offered and moved off to join his cousin as they waited for Haruhi to put on her Belle costume. Once she was out, he declared, "Haru-Chan you are so kawaii!"

The twins and Tamaki ran to her side agreeing wholeheartedly with the short blonde. They were impressed to say the least and Tamaki grabbed her hand bringing it up to his lips, "You are the very epitome of a princess." He wanted to do more, but Hunny was right there and he knew he couldn't get away with anything even while Mori was changing into his costume. _"Why couldn't they change together?" _He grumbled inwardly.

"Uh thanks Tamaki-senpai," Haruhi said unsure of how to respond.

After Mori came out in his princely costume since the twins decided he would be the Beast after the change, Hunny went to change into his Chip costume. They had less than thirty minutes before they would open to the door to the throng of ladies that were waiting.

Kyoya approached the happy couple and smiled, "I don't know how you did it Haruhi, but there has been an increase in the number of reservations today. I think it will beat the record you set with Kasanoda last year."

"Oh yippee," Haruhi rolled her eyes and then chuckled, "I am glad that my love life could help the club."

"So I am curious, what did you do because most of the new comers said that the club was recommended by you."

Mori looked down at his fiancée with an eyebrow raised in question. He was curious now too.

Shrugging, Haruhi explained, "Nothing really. They were inquisitive about Takashi and I so I told them how we started going out and when I fell in love with him. I think they are hoping to find love in the Host Club also. I tried to tell them that the club wasn't about that, but I don't think they listened very well."

"They will figure it out, but it appears today we have several new customers to welcome. Thank you," Kyoya stated and pushed up his glasses before walking back to his table.

"Ways to make the Shadow King happy: new customers… check, more customers… check, increased profits… check check," Haruhi joked and heard Mori chuckle beside her. Glancing up at him, she declared, "I have to say that I have seen you look good before, but I like you as my prince."

He pulled her into his arms and leaned down to give her a kiss whispering before their lips touched, "I like it too."

Tamaki screamed and pulled Haruhi away from Mori, "You are too young to kiss boys!"

Before anyone else could do anything, Haruhi had his arm twisted behind his back and off of her, "Tamaki-senpai I have been kissing him for almost a year and will continue to do so if I want to. You are not my father and the only reason you are not on the ground right now is because I am in this really nice dress and I didn't I could throw you without damaging the dress or hurting myself. I knew I couldn't trip you because it is too long." She released him and turned back to her boyfriend so that they could put some distance between them and the crazy blonde president.

"MOMMY! Did you see what our daughter just did to me! It has to be his influence over her," Tamaki whined running over to his best friend.

"Tamaki, I really don't know how many times it will take for you to learn your lesson, but you apparently haven't learned it yet. She is with Mori and you need to stop attacking her," Kyoya sighed, "Some people are actually keeping track of how many times she has to stop you, and one person even came up with names for it calling it the Mental Tamaki Removal Count. Last year it was called the Mental Flying Tamaki Count. Now if people are coming up with names for this, don't you think you are going overboard?"

"Mommy, she never acted like that before she started to date him," the blonde continued to cry to his friend.

Kyoya shook his head and thought again how perfect it was that Tamaki was playing Gaston today. He was the person that wanted Belle for himself and didn't believe that the Beast was good enough, so apt, "Tamaki, we told her to learn self-defense and she did. It isn't her fault she practices on you. You do keep tempting her though."

Suddenly, Tamaki seemed to brighten up, "Your right Kyoya! I tempt her and she needs me to practice. Only I can be there for her, and soon she will realize that she needs me as more than just to help her practice because I tempt her!" He ran off to take his place on his throne.

"That isn't what I meant," Kyoya muttered as his friend ran off. He could already see the problems that little conversation was going to cause. He didn't really have time to warn Haruhi and Mori though because once Hunny came out of the back room dressed as Chip, it was time to open the doors for the customers.

The girls rushed into the room and were squealing with delight at seeing the hosts dressed as characters from Beauty and the Beast. They loved the character choices and couldn't get enough of them. Each host, or group of hosts, had a crowd of ladies surrounding them; and for Haruhi, Mori, and Hunny there were some men too.

The diehard Tamaki fans declared he should have been the prince and he replied with a flip of his hair, "I am a prince everyday with you ladies. It was time to let someone else experience the gift you bestow upon me every time I see you." This sent the girls into a tizzy and several swooned, while others screamed and volume increased with each sentence he uttered.

The mob surrounding the trio was also experiencing increased levels of hyperventilating and screams. People loved to see Haruhi and Mori hosting together with Hunny, and even the men found enjoyment from the time even though they had to share her with her fiancée; the ring ever present on her finger as a reminder that she was completely off the market. The customers didn't care though because the Host Club was about fantasy and they could all use their imaginations to see themselves with one of the three hosts. That was all they cared about… for the most part at least.

As soon as it was time for the customers to leave and the doors to close, Haruhi wondered if her hearing was permanently damaged from the enthusiastic customers. She had to admit, it had been fun though and she liked sitting with Mori knowing she didn't have to hide anything. She could hold his hand or he could brush his fingers along her cheek and it was alright. Today was probably the most fun she ever had hosting since joining the club the previous year.

After she was changed back into her uniform, she looked around for Mori and Hunny and didn't see them. The twins she knew left right after club because they had to get home to help their mother, but Mori and Hunny should have been there and the only one she saw was Kyoya. She started to walk up to him, but was grabbed from behind. An elbow to the stomach of her tormenter, and she stepped back as she grabbed one of the arms and heaved throwing the weight into her hips and following through. Tamaki was on the ground in front of her. Shaking her head and dusting her hands off, she left Tamaki where he was and approached the vice president, "Kyoya-senpai, do you know where Takashi and Hunny are?"

"Don't worry daughter, I will take you home!" Tamaki scrambled off of the floor and ran towards her but stopped short when he saw a dark aura coming from her and the glint in her eye. That was never a good sign.

Kyoya gave Tamaki a pointed look and then cleared his throat, "Hunny had tea spilled on him, so Mori went to help him remove his teacup costume because the zipper became stuck as well. I believe they went to the restroom since they needed the sink. They should be back momentarily." What he didn't tell her was that it was Tamaki that dumped the tea "accidentally" on the cake loving host.

"OK thank you. I will just read until they get back," Haruhi smiled at her friend and moved to one of the couches.

It wasn't much longer before Mori and Hunny were back in the music room and the trio was leaving the room. It was another end to another day and they were all ready to get out of the school and back to sanity. Two more years before the couple could get married, they wondered if they were going to survive it with their friends sometimes.

**A/N2: Everyone I would like to thank mtnikolle for creating the Mental Flying Tamaki Count for Haruhi's Bitter Days and for the new Mental Tamaki Removal Count for this story that will count everything and everyone that takes Tamaki down. Mtnikolle... I had to put them in the story! LOL.**


	7. Beach Memories

**A/N: I had a lot of fun writing the last chapter and I am so happy you laughed with me on it. I can just picture Tamaki deciding he needs to take Satoshi and Chika under his wing like he did Haruhi and make them into the perfect hosts and Chika wanting to gag or something. LOL. Ok, so Tamaki really got it in the last chapter and Mori had a really good convo with his father. I really think this year is going to be just as hard on him as it is on Haruhi. One of my readers requested I give her a flashback of epi 8 when they are at the beach… here it is. Hope you like it. Let me know what you think.**

**PS... I was hoping to post my Nekozawa/Haruhi story today, but I need to tweak it a bit first, so look for the first chapter tomorrow. **

Chapter 7 – Beach Memories

_It hadn't been her first time to the beach, but she hadn't felt the sand under her feet or heard the waves of the ocean since her mother had passed away. It was nice to experience it once again with her friends. Haruhi looked up from her blanket and noticed her new boyfriend and his cousin working out with some of the customers and smiled. They had only been going out for about four weeks, but it felt like they had been together so much longer than that. _

_As the afternoon had progressed, girls had tried to get her to go into the water with them, but she was able to smile her best host smile and convince them to go without her. It would be too easy to expose her secret if she went into the water to play, although part of her was itching to walk along the shore and let the waves tickle her feet. Sighing, she stayed on her blanket knowing that if she got too close almost anything could happen around her group of friends like Tamaki attacking her and pushing her accidentally into the water. No, it was best to stay as far away from him and the water as possible._

_Mori heard a sigh coming from behind him and when he looked, he could see his girlfriend staring into the clear blue waters of the sea. Shaking his head and smiling, he silently promised her that she would be able to step into the ocean before they left to go home, and he would make sure Tamaki stayed away from her while she did it. They may have to keep their relationship a secret, but he could protect her and everyone would think that he was just keeping an overenthusiastic hormonal teenage boy with a daddy complex away from her. Turning back around to concentrate on the customers, he inwardly smiled, "Don't worry Haruhi; you will get your time in the ocean."_

_"What was the Mori-senpai?" One of the girls inquired when she heard her favorite host say something under his breath._

_"Nothing," the tall host responded. _

_Deciding to help his best friend out, Hunny giggled, "Takashi was just thinking about his katas. Sometimes he counts under his breath."_

_The girls clapped their hands together and gazed upon the stoic man with affection and desire squealing, "MOE!"_

_As soon as the girls started to scream for Mori, Haruhi started to snicker. She couldn't help it. It was a little amusing how easily the girls would get stars or hearts in their eyes and then scream their favorite word "MOE", or in the case of Hunny it was "kawaii". Did the girls even really know them? She would bet her grocery money for a month that they didn't. All of the hosts held their true selves back and would not show the girls who they really were; and that was ok because they were just a club that catered to the girls and were not looking for wives or girlfriends. They had an image to uphold after all. _

_It wasn't long before Haruhi was walking along the beach believing she could get in a moment or two of quiet time and found Hunny digging up shellfish. He was waiving to her and calling out, "Want to go hellfish shunting?" _

_Shaking her head, she tried to tell him that it wasn't that kind of beach, but noticed he had a bucket full of items and she looked around. One minute there was nothing there and the next minute she was surrounded, "AHHH!" Startled by the number of items up for grabs, she agreed to help Hunny collect everything they could. _

_Tamaki tried to joke with her and picked up a crab with a centipede on it which she just threw on the rocks. Haruhi knew that little bug was not going to be hurt, and that made the hosts wonder… does she have a fear or weakness? They didn't know, not even Mori knew what she was truly afraid of. They were still learning each other. So with a prize on the line, six hosts set out to find her greatest fear; and one by one they started to fail. _

_The only female host knew something was going on, but she wasn't sure what it was. When Mori pointed the harpoon at her, she told him knowing no one else was around, "You are my senpai and boyfriend, not a sentai. What is going on here?" _

_Rubbing the back of his neck, he answered, "Nothing."_

_"Takashi, I know something is going on. The twins took me to a damp cave, Hunny locked me in a dark truck and then freaked out, and now you are pointing a harpoon at me. What is going on?" Before Mori could answer, the twins and Tamaki burst forth with the blonde chasing the two redheads. She knew she wasn't getting her answers right then. Walking away from him, she grabbed an empty bucket and retuned to gathering dinner for the club. _

_As Haruhi was picking up yet another crab, she heard her name being called and looked up. Standing on top of a cliff were three of her regular customers. She could see they were enjoying themselves, but still warned them to be careful. She should have warned them to get back to the beach and off of the cliff because she heard male voices floating down to her moments later and knew they didn't belong to any of the girls. Looking around quickly, she didn't see anyone in shouting distance and decided to help the girls herself. Someone had to save them. _

_Running up the path that would lead to the top of the cliff, Haruhi arrived to see the two men mauling the girls. "They told you to leave them alone!" She threw her bucket of shellfish and sea urchins at one of them hitting his back and watched as one of the girls escaped. That was one free to get help while she helped the other two, but plans don't always work the way she intends them too and soon she was screaming as she was thrown off the cliff and into the ocean. _

_The next thing Haruhi knew, she was being pulled out of the ocean and carried in the arms of Tamaki. She was grateful to him for saving her, but those where not the arms wrapped around her right now. She wanted Mori to comfort her because if she was honest, she was a little freaked out. _

_"Where are they?" Tamaki asked in the most serious tone of voice Haruhi's ever heard come from the blonde._

_"We took their wallets and asked them to leave. The girls have returned to the hotel and I have called a doctor. He should be here any moment now," Kyoya replied placing his shirt over Haruhi's wet body. _

_"I'm fine. I don't need a doctor," Haruhi wiggled indicating that she wanted to be let down. Glancing at her boyfriend as her feet hit the sand once again, she really couldn't tell what he was thinking, but she could see the fear in his eyes and she knew it was fear for her and her safety. _

_When Mori had seen Haruhi fly off the cliff, his heart stopped and it took all he had not to panic. He was grateful to Tamaki for jumping in to save her, but he wanted it to be him. He wanted to be her knight and to pull her out of the water, to hold her and comfort her, to know she was alright. He needed her in his arms right now, but all of that would have to wait. _

_Tamaki put his hands on Haruhi's shoulders and interrogated her, "What were you thinking? Why did you do that? You aren't some sort of martial arts master like Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai. You are just a girl and you shouldn't have tried to take on two guys!"_

_Shrugging his hands off, she felt like she had to defend herself, "It doesn't matter that I am a girl and they are boys. I was the only one around and I had to do something. They were in trouble!"_

_"That's no excuse you idiot! You are just a girl!" Tamaki yelled at her._

_Mori wanted to rip Tamaki's hands away from Haruhi and pull her into his arms. He understood why she did it and if she had not acted it could have been worse for the customers, but that didn't mean he wasn't scared or freaked out; and the host club president was not helping matters any. Tamaki had no right to chastise Haruhi, but Mori understood that Tamaki had been worried too. Still Haruhi was independent and had learned long ago that she had to stand up for what she believed was right and that was all she was doing today. She didn't need to be yelled at for that, but she did need to learn how to better take care of herself. _

_"Look, I'm sorry that you had to come rescue me and everything, but I am not sorry for doing what I did. I don't understand why you are so mad at me right now because I don't think I did anything wrong!" Haruhi yelled back._

_Tamaki was shocked that Haruhi would bellow back at him, and believed she just didn't get it, "You don't think so. Fine, I am not talking to you until you come to your senses and admit that you were wrong," he spoke in a calm manner, but his glare told everyone around him that he was still upset with her. _

_Glancing over her shoulder to the retreating figure of her friend, Haruhi felt hurt and angry at him. She didn't want to go over the cliff, but she had to help the girls. They couldn't take care of themselves, and although she had no formal training, she did know that she could at least distract the two drunks so that the girls could make their escape. Feeling two arms wrap around her, she looked up at the twins, "What?"_

_"Nothing. Come on, we will take you back to your room," they said together and proceeded to drag her away. _

_Haruhi wanted to call out to Mori and have him take her back to her room, but she knew she couldn't. With one last look at her boyfriend, she allowed the twins to drag her back to the house with the other three hosts following behind them. _

_After Haruhi had taken a shower to wash the seawater off of her, she got ready for dinner and then just stood by the window looking out into the ocean. She didn't think she was wrong about what she did when it happened, and she felt the same about it now. She just couldn't figure out why she was the criminal in this. Then her thoughts wandered to Mori… did he think ill of her also? She hoped not because she really loved him and would hope that he understood why she did what she did. A knock at her door pulled her from her thoughts and she called out, "Come in." When she glanced up, there was the man that had been occupying her mind since she had been pulled out of the ocean. _

_Mori gently closed the door and approached his girlfriend surveying her as he got closer. It didn't appear that she had any wounds or that she was hurt, but sometimes wounds on the inside cut just as deep as the outside. He knew she was mad and upset about what Tamaki had said earlier, but that didn't matter right now. Right now, he needed to know for himself that she was alright and that she understood that although he was scared for her and he had been terrified of losing her, he knew why she did it and was alright with that. Opening his arms to her, she immediately stepped in them and wrapped her arms around his waist. He encircled his arms around her body and kissed the top of her head, "Are you alright?"_

_"I didn't get injured or anything. I'm sorry if I scared you Takashi, but I had to do it," Haruhi stated._

_"I know you did."_

_"So you aren't mad at me too?"_

_"I was horrified when I say you fall off of the cliff, but I know why you did it."_

_Rubbing her face on his chest, Haruhi smiled, "Thank you Takashi."_

_They stayed like that for a few minutes before Mori finally spoke up, "Mitsukuni asked me to get you for dinner. Are you hungry?"_

_"Yah," Haruhi pulled back and gazed into her boyfriend's eyes before standing on her toes and pulling him down for a real kiss. She had needed the contact like she needed breathing. She felt so much better and sure of herself now that they had talked and it was time to face the others now. They may not like what she did, but if it didn't affect them and Mori was ok with it, then it didn't matter, "I'm glad you are ok with what happened."_

_"I wouldn't say that I am ok with it, but I understand why you did it."_

_Nodding, Haruhi didn't say anything else and together they walked to the dining room in order to partake in the feast Mori and Hunny prepared for everyone. When they arrived, Mori opened the door for her and allowed her to walk in first. Everyone stopped and looked up with shock written all over their faces. The tall host knew this was coming since they had never really seen her in something so feminine and girly before. _

_"Where did you get that dress?" The twins asked together._

_"My dad. He must have repacked by things when I wasn't looking. He is always trying to get me to wear this frilly stuff," Haruhi grumbled._

_Looking at each other and then back at Haruhi, the twins gave her two thumbs up each, "Way to go dad!"_

_Mori and Hunny wanted to roll their eyes at them, but kept their faces from belying the secret they were privy to. The taller of the two cousins wanted to slap the wolfish looks off of the twins and make sure they never looked at her like that again, but he restrained himself knowing that was not acceptable behavior… yet. _

_"You look so kawaii Haru-Chan!" Hunny exclaimed. He had seen her dress up before and he always thought she looked so pretty when she did. _

_"Um, thanks guys... I guess," Haruhi said with uncertainty in her voice and picked at the skirt of her dress. She felt a hand grab her wrist and pull her to the table. When she looked to see who it was, Hunny was taking her to her seat at the table. _

_Haruhi took her seat and Hunny sat down on one side of her, but before Mori could take the other chair, Tamaki sat down on the other side of Haruhi. Seeing this, the wild host sat down next to his cousin knowing he would be able to see his girlfriend later. _

_The tension was thick in the room and could probably be cut with nothing more than a butter knife. The twins made comments about it, but it was Hunny that finally broke the tension a little and allowed everyone to eat, "Let's dig in Haru-Chan!" _

_As the meal wore on, Haruhi started to make jokes, which Mori and Hunny were said in order to annoy Tamaki since she was still upset with the blonde. The president started to make comments to Haruhi and she would retort. Each believed they were in the right and not the wrong. Finally Tamaki stood up and declared, "I see you refuse to admit you were wrong. See if I care, I am going to bed. Kyoya please show me to my room."_

_Kyoya wiped his mouth and stood up. He had shown his best friend which room he was staying in earlier, but apparently the blonde either wanted to talk or had already forgotten. He wouldn't put either one past him, "Well if you will excuse me." Walking down the hall next to his friend, Kyoya finally asked, "What is it? I showed you your room earlier."_

_"Do you think I am being too hard on her?" Tamaki probed._

_"Haruhi grew up differently than us, but what she did was rash," Kyoya responded, "If that is all, I will see you later."_

_"Wait Kyoya!" _

_"What?"_

_Tamaki was blushing and tapping his two index fingers together, "Can you show me to my room? I forgot where it is."_

_Rolling his eyes, Kyoya sighed, "Come on then you moron."_

_After Kyoya and Tamaki had left the room, Haruhi started to wonder if maybe Tamaki wasn't right. She started to think about what she had done more and what Mori had said to her about understanding but not actually being ok with it, "Maybe he is right. Maybe I need to learn how to defend myself." _

_"So he finally got to you," Hikaru and Kaoru said at the same time._

_"Well it wouldn't hurt for you to learn martial arts or something," Hikaru muttered. _

_Kaoru stated, "But it isn't like we are going to force you to learn it."_

_The twins went on to explain that it wasn't the fact that she needed to learn how to defend herself, but the fact that they were all worried about her. They believed she did act recklessly. She appeared to still not understand that people besides Mori worried about her and Hunny put in his opinion and tried to explain the situation better. _

_She finally realized that people cared and worried about her. They were her friends and wanted her to be safe, "You were worried? I am really sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry." She was sorry for that because it was true. She never wanted to make them worry about her, but she still believed she did what was right. Suddenly, she was pulled into three pairs of arms and they were holding her tight in an embrace accepting her apology and she started to feel sick. They rushed her to the closest bedroom and threw her in the bathroom. _

_Mori wanted to stay near, but knew now was not the time for it. He would check on her later and pulled the twins and Hunny away from the bedroom door to give her some privacy. If he knew anything about his girlfriend, she would not want a crowd to bear witness to her getting sick. _

_When Haruhi was done, she walked into the bedroom and saw someone sitting on the other side of the room in nothing but jeans and a towel covering his head, "I'm sorry for the intrusion."_

_"Don't worry, it is just me," Kyoya muttered as he dropped the towel._

_"Kyoya-senpai! I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to make everyone worry," Haruhi bowed surprised about which door she walked in._

_Taking a drink of his water, Kyoya prepared himself to show her that there really was a different between genders, and at times those differences were crucial, "I wasn't particularly worried, but I did have a hard time getting the twins off of those interlopers. They almost killed them." Standing up he started to walk over to her, "And I had to send flowers to all of the girls. They were all looking forward to this trip and we don't want to disappointment, do we?"_

_"I'll pay you back for the flowers."_

_"Each bouquet cost me 50,000 yen; that is a grand total of 600,000 yen Haruhi," he stated as he turned the lights off. It was time to enact his plan._

_"Why did you turn the lights of senpai?"_

_"If you want, you can pay me back with your body," he smirked as he grabbed her wrist and threw her on the bed with him hovering over her. "Surely you don't really believe a person's sex doesn't matter. Are you really that naïve? You've left yourself completely defenseless against me and I can take complete advantage of you right now."_

_Haruhi's eyes widened minutely and she stared into the older boy's eyes and knew immediately what was going on. Deciding to call him out, she challenged him, "You won't do it Kyoya-senpai. It wouldn't do you any good and you will gain no merits from it."_

_Smiling at her audacity, Kyoya sat up. She saw through him yet again, "You're right. You are a fascinating young woman Haruhi."_

_"I did learn something from this though. I guess I never really knew what a nice guy you are. You are just trying to teach me a lesson and reiterate what Tamaki-senpai was saying. I know that you are trying to prove his point and pose as the bad guy."_

_Kyoya wasn't given the chance to respond to her accusations because Tamaki knocked and instead of waiting for an answer, entered the room, "Kyoya, do you have any lotion. This sunburn is starting to sting." Seeing his best friend standing next to the bed in nothing but a pair of pants and Haruhi kneeling on the bed facing the Shadow King, the half Frenchman jumped to conclusions, "YOU BASTARD!" Before he could take another step forward though, Kyoya was shoving the lotion in his face and walking out the door. _

_"Here use as much as you want you big goof," Kyoya growled and walked out the door leaving his best friend with the female host, and thinking that Haruhi was wrong about something. She did have some merit._

_"What were you doing with him?" Tamaki advanced on Haruhi once the door was closed._

_Haruhi pulled her attention away from the window and looked at her friend, "Nothing."_

_"YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIEVE THAT NOTHING WAS GOING ON WHEN HE IS HALF NAKED AND YOU ARE LYING ON THE BED? YOU ARE ALONE IN HERE WITH THE LIGHTS OFF! DON'T YOU LIE TO ME!" Tamaki paused and took a small step back, "Never mind, you have had a long day and I am sure you are tired."_

_The rumble of thunder could be heard and Haruhi's fear was starting to build up. She watched Tamaki starting to walk away and wanted Mori. Did she dare ask Tamaki to get him, "Senpai wait!"_

_Turning around to face her, he noticed that she seemed to be on edge. When she screamed as soon as the thunder roared and the lightning struck, he inquired, "What's wrong Haruhi?"_

_She didn't have time to find Mori, "It's nothing. I just remembered that I have some business to take care of." She climbed into the wardrobe and was able to turn the latch on the inside so that it locked the storm away from her. Pulling her knees to her chest, she buried her face into them and prayed the storm would pass quickly._

_"What business could you have in a wardrobe?!" Tamaki bellowed when another bout of thunder and lightning made itself known, "Are you afraid of thunder and lightning? Why did you lock yourself in there? It would seem that would make it scarier."_

_"I'm alright. I am used to getting through things by myself."_

_It suddenly hit Tamaki. She has always been alone and had no one else to really depend on and that is why she felt she had to act today, "By yourself? You're always by yourself and never call us even when we are so near to you. I get it now and I'm sorry for acting like I did. You don't have to worry though because you have people that are there for you now. You can come out now." He was able to get the door open and looked at her, "You don't have to be alone any longer or afraid. I will make sure nothing happens to you. I will never leave you alone." Another round of the noise and bright light, and Haruhi flew into his arms, "It's ok." He could feel her trembling and felt so sorry for her, but now he understood her just a little bit more, "Come on, let's see what we can do to help you through this."_

_Mori was starting to get concerned because he hadn't seen Haruhi since he dropped her off at the bathroom to get sick. He and Hunny found Kyoya wandering the halls and asked him if he had seen her and that is when the twins appeared out of seemingly nowhere. He led them back to his room and was questioned by the twins about leaving Tamaki and Haruhi alone together. Mori had the same questions, but did not voice them, "Of course. She is with our prince. What could possibly happen?"_

_When they opened the door, it was to see Haruhi kneeling on the floor in front of Tamaki blindfolded. They heard him tell her that the earplugs muffled sound and she wouldn't see anything with the blindfold on, and the twins immediately attacked, "You nasty pervert. What kind of foreplay is that?"_

_Fighting the feelings of wanting to pummel the blonde president, Mori stepped forward. He was pissed and just wanted to get his girlfriend away from Tamaki. Walking in on that made him wonder if Haruhi was having second thoughts or if Tamaki was manipulating her in some way. He scooped her up in his arms causing her to squeak, but when she lifted her blindfold and saw who it was, she gave a small smile. The tall host carried her out of the room and as he was passing by Tamaki, he slapped him on the back of the head. He would let everyone else deal with him; he needed to get Haruhi out of there. Carrying her back to her room, Mori opened the door and set her down after he closed and locked the door behind him, "Are you alright?"_

_"Yah, he was just helping me Takashi."_

_This made Mori pause because it didn't look like Tamaki was innocently helping her at all, "Helping you? Haruhi are you sure that you want this? Maybe there is someone else who you have feelings for?"_

_Cocking her head to the side, Haruhi shot him a confused look, "Someone else?"_

_"Tamaki maybe?" Mori wasn't sure why he was asking because if it was true then his heart was broken, but after what he witnessed he had to wonder if maybe she had settled for him because he was the one that asked her first. _

_"What are you talking about?"_

_Mori sighed and tried to be clearer, "Do you have feelings for Tamaki or someone else in the club? I know that I asked you on a date, but maybe you have feelings for the others too?"_

_Haruhi furrowed her brow, "I don't know what you are talking about, but I only have feelings for you, not Tamaki and not the others. He really was just helping me."_

_"Helping you with what?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the sky was lit up and it sounded like an explosion went off. The next thing he knew was that Haruhi screamed and jumped on him. He finally understood. Tamaki was comforting her from the storm and the earplugs and blindfold were innocent. "Shhh it's ok Haruhi. I have you." He picked her up and moved to the bed, setting her down and watching as she climbed under the covers. Mori quickly shut the curtains so that the lightning could not be seen and crawled into bed with her pulling her back into his arms, "I am here for you and won't let you go. You are more important than almost anything to me Haruhi." _

_She was unable to speak, but she nodded her head knowing she felt the same way. Listening to his heart beat and focusing on the hand that rubbed her back, she was soon lulled into sleep and had dreams of Mori and what a future with him may be like. Haruhi fell asleep with a smile on her face surrounded by her boyfriend's arms and knowing he would protect her from everything. _

**_End of flashback…_**

Haruhi woke up in the morning for school in a good mood. She wasn't sure what made her think of their first trip to the beach together, but that night had been special for her. They hadn't said "I love you" to each other yet, but it was at that moment, she knew Mori did.


	8. This Is Going To Be A Long Year

**A/N: I know Still Assuming should be up next in my list of stories to work, but I have been thinking about this story a lot and decided that I wanted to work on this one next and get out of order just a bit. I am sure you will not mind too much. Still Assuming will be updated tomorrow. Poor Tamaki was somewhat innocent and Mori got him, while nothing happened to Kyoya. LOL. I wanted to keep my version as close to the epi as possible and just fill in the gaps in time or add to what we saw. I am ecstatic you liked it. Enjoy the next chapter! **

Chapter 8 – This is Going to be a Long Year

When Haruhi first walked into the music room and everyone thought she was a boy, and yes that did include Mori, he never thought that he would find someone in her that would bring him new dreams, hopes, and a fresh perspective on life. However, that was exactly what he got, and he couldn't be happier. The only thing that was a thorn in his side right now was the fact that they were going to two different schools, on two different campuses, and there were idiots still vying for her hand.

Mori wasn't stupid; he knew that Tamaki had spilled tea on Hunny on purpose and he knew that when he wasn't around, the blonde was trying to impress Haruhi. What he wasn't sure of was why wouldn't he leave her alone and learn his lesson? She had punched, thrown, kicked, tripped, and everything else to Tamaki, and yet the president of the club still kept at it. The rock on her finger should have been clue enough for Tamaki to back off, but apparently it wasn't because every day it seemed to be something else: crashing their vacation, trying to give her rides home, attempting to each lunch with her, complaining when she treats him like she always has. Mori wondered what it would take to get through to the idiot king. At this point he wasn't sure if anything could and thought that they might just have to deal with him like this for the rest of their lives. Well, life wouldn't be dull.

As he sat in the car on the way to school, Mori's thoughts turned to Haruhi and how she was this morning. He had sent her an early morning text and he knew his brother and Chika would be picking her up for school shortly, but his thoughts were always on her and he was already anxious to see her and know that she was alright. It would be a lot less stressful if Tamaki wasn't so persistent, and he had to wonder if Hikaru had actually given up. Of course from the reports he got from his brother and younger cousin, half of the school was enchanted by Haruhi and she had gotten several date requests and proposals already. Groaning, he leaned his head back against the headrest and ignored Hunny's curious stare as he mumbled, "This was going to be a very long school year."

Hearing his cousin's words, Hunny didn't have to ask what Mori was pondering. Everything became clear with that one sentence and he couldn't help but agree with his stoic friend. Everyone was trying to get Haruhi's attention and Mori had more than just Tamaki to keep at bay, but he also knew that Haruhi's heart belonged to Mori and the wild host had nothing to worry about. He was sure that his cousin knew that too, and yet it was still irritating hearing about guys attempting to steal Haruhi from the absent Morinozuka heir.

Haruhi looked at her phone as soon as her alarm went off. Mori had to be in his first class earlier than she did today, but he still sent her his good morning text and she smiled as soon as she saw it. The only times he had missed sending her a text since the day they had their first day was the one time they had been fighting and when he was doing his survival test. The fight was over something stupid and lasted only a day before they were both apologizing. The survival test… well that one couldn't be helped, but it was because of that she could say that she was engaged to the man of her dreams.

Sighing, she got up from the cocoon of her blankets and got out of bed so that she could get ready for the day. Haruhi loved to go to school, but she was anxious for the hub bub of her secret being revealed and her engagement being announced to finally die down. She was still the same girl she had been in her first year except now everyone knew she was a girl. Then again they also knew she was taken, so she didn't understand why so many boys were trying to ask her out. She was currently engaged to the only one she wanted. Deciding she would never really understand the opposite sex, she heaved another sight and went about finishing up her morning tasks.

When Haruhi was done getting ready and she had eaten breakfast, she stepped outside of her apartment only to walk face first into a chest. This one wasn't as broad or high as the one she was used to, but still she had to look up and found Satoshi on the verge of laughing at her. Shooting him a glare, she muttered, "Just what is so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing at all senpai," the young Morinozuka chuckled as he grabbed her bag and proceeded to escort her down the stairs, "Bad morning?"

"Huh? Oh, no not a bad morning. I am just not looking forward to school right now. You would think that there would be more interesting things to talk about than Takashi and I, but apparently between my secret and our engagement, we are the big topic right now. It has been a few days and they had summer break to get used to everything… enough is enough already. I just don't get it."

Shaking his head, Satoshi got in the car after her and sat next to her as she said her good mornings to Chika. She may not get it, but he did. Haruhi was a commoner and was now engaged to the heir to the Morinozuka family, fortune, businesses, etc. She was smart, pretty, and had a good head on her shoulders; even if she didn't have a pedigree, there were many families and men who would want her as either a passing fancy or to bring into their families. The girls of the school, well they just liked to gossip and the fact that a commoner had landed a fiancée belonging to a powerful and rich family, and a host that several of the girls at Ouran had wanted for themselves… that was big news.

It was now up to him and Chika to protect the future wife of his brother, and they would do anything they could to make sure she came to no harm: physically, mentally, or emotionally. Glancing at his future sister-in-law, Satoshi wondered if she was really as clueless as she appeared sometimes or if she understood and just simply didn't think she was worth the time or hassle of gossip and everything else that went with it, but if Mori thought she was worth it, then she was. Although, Satoshi had long ago fell in love with her as a sister and knew she was worth it without his brother's insistence.

As they got closer to the school, the trio could already see Tamaki and the twins waiting for them in the front. So instead of being dropped off where they normally would, Chika told the driver to go around to the middle school. It was time to mess with the troublemakers heads just a little bit. He looked at Haruhi and she looked confused; smirking, he explained, "We are going around the back way. More than likely they didn't see us driving through the gates. So we will be dropped off closer to the middle school and make our way to the high school, completely bypassing those three morons. That is unless you want to deal with Tamaki-senpai this morning."

"I would rather not," she groaned.

"That is what we thought," Satoshi patted her head and when the car came to a stop, he got out of the car and looked around before allowing Haruhi to exit the vehicle. Chika followed after her and together they stealthily made their way to the senior campus. They had Haruhi in her desk without knowledge of the others and well before the bell rang so that she could study her notes.

Intent on her task of studying, Haruhi did not notice when her friends walked in her classroom until she felt two pairs of arms encircle her and a voice was whispering in her ear, "How did you get here before us?" Looking to her right, she noticed Hikaru frowning at her.

"Yah we were waiting with the boss, but we never saw you come in," Kaoru remarked with a smile on his face. He knew if she came in with her new escorts, they probably anticipated the welcome they would receive and instead of dealing with an ambush, brought their charge in covertly.

Returning her gaze to her notebook, she shrugged, "I have no idea what you are talking about. I got here early like I always do and…" She was interrupted by a shriek coming from the hallway.

"Uh-oh, Tono is coming this way," the twins grimaced.

Haruhi really thought she would not have to deal with Tamaki until later in the day, especially since they only had about five minutes before the bell rang for class to start. Luck was not on her side though as he came barreling into her classroom and tried to grab her out of her seat. It was days like this she wished she carried her shinai with her everywhere like Satoshi did. Instead she had to handle this hand to hand. As Tamaki made to grab her, she ducked out of her desk low to the ground, came up and twisted his arm behind his back, "Tamaki-senpai, I am not in the mood for this today. I was in the middle of studying when you barged in here. Don't you have class this morning?" She let him go with a small push and took her seat once again amid whispers about how she handled her upperclassman.

"Haruhi, daddy was just worried about you and needed to make sure that you got to school safely. I didn't see you this morning and I needed to know you weren't kidnapped, sold into slavery, dead, or sick," the blonde president of the Host Club pouted at the only female host.

"As you can see I am perfectly alright. Satoshi and Chika got me here without any problems, so you can go back to class now," she grumbled without sparing him another look.

"About that, I think as you father, I should be the one to give you a ride to and from school every day."

"Senpai, I have no idea where you get your ideas, but you are not my father and I have a ride to and from school already. Satoshi and Chika will give me rides when Takashi can't. If none of them can, I am more than capable of taking the train and bus system like I always have before."

"B-b-b-but Haruhi I have to insist!" Tamaki cried out.

"Suoh-kun, I believe you are in the wrong class. Please leave my students alone and get to the proper classroom before you are written up," the teacher demanded as she walked into the classroom to begin today's lesson.

Bowing, Tamaki gave the instructor his most charming smile and looked up at her from his lower position, "I do apologize sensei, I was just informing fellow club members of a meeting in the music room during lunch. I didn't mean to cause a ruckus. Please forgive me."

The teacher started to blush and stammered, "Y-You are forgiven, but please get to your own classroom before you are marked tardy."

"Of course," Tamaki straightened up and gave one last smile before leaving the classroom and making his way to his own room.

Haruhi looked at Hikaru and Kaoru and mouthed, "Do you know what this meeting is?" The only response she got from both of them was head shakes telling her they had no clue either.

After class was over, Haruhi sent a text message to Satoshi and Chika about the lunch club meeting. She had a feeling they had not been informed of it and that it wasn't a real meeting. Never the less, they needed to be told and she was going to make sure they were there, if they could be.

As the bell for lunch rang, Haruhi gathered her things and left her classroom only to find Mori waiting for her. Beaming she walked up to him and gave him a hug, "What are you doing here? Not that I am not happy to see you, but I wasn't expecting to see you until after club time today."

"Satoshi told me of the meeting and I have a couple of hours until my next class, so I thought I would join you for lunch," he explained as he pulled out a bag from behind his back.

"I like that idea," she said as she joined their hands together after he took her lunch from her, and they started to walk towards music room three feeling eyes following them as they made the short journey.

Chika and Satoshi met them at the doors to the music room with their lunches in hand. Chika looked more than a little irritated that he was being asked to attend a last minute meeting for the Host Club when he believed it was little more than a ploy for Tamaki to try to win Haruhi away from Mori.

"Taka-bro you came!" Satoshi was always excited to see his mentor.

"Yes," Mori smiled and patted his brother's head.

Narrowing his eyes, Chika looked around for his own brother, "Did Mitsukuni not come?"

Mori shook his head, "No, he has class right now." He opened the door for Haruhi and let her enter first.

Haruhi walked into the room and was immediately pulled into someone's arms and she knew it was Tamaki when he said, "I knew you would come."

A quick elbow to the gut, she then stepped on his insole and when he let go, she turned around in a fighting stance, but she knew her threat was neutralized, "What the hell senpai?"

"I just thought we could have some daddy/daughter bonding time and eat lunch together," Tamaki moaned from his bent over position clutching his stomach.

"I knew this wasn't a real meeting," Chika growled.

When Tamaki heard other voices, he whipped around, but started to bounce on one foot since he decided to put his weight on the foot Haruhi just smashed, "What are you three doing here?"

Glaring at her blonde friend, Haruhi answered, "You said Host Club meeting, so I told Chika and Satoshi about it and they told Takashi. The twins were there when you said meeting, where are they?"

"I told them that the meeting was cancelled and not to come," Tamaki replied in a very small voice.

"I can't believe you! Takashi, would you like to have lunch in the rose garden? Satoshi and Chika, you two are more than welcome to join us," she snapped intentionally not inviting the final person in the room.

Tamaki felt like someone had kicked him and he fell backwards yelling before turning pasty white and appeared to be dead. He hadn't been able to tell her that he had a meal catered and waiting for them, nor that it included ootoro. He wasn't even invited to their little lunch now. Where had he gone wrong? He couldn't fathom why Haruhi was treating him like this, and yet he couldn't move or talk to stop her… he was frozen where he was and for all intents and purposes dead to the world.

This was how Hikaru and Kaoru found their fearless leader when they decided to ignore what Tamaki had told them and show up at the music room anyway. Poking at the half Frenchman with sticks they seemed to pull out of nowhere, they were unable to get a reaction out of him. It was time to call in the big guns. The youngest twin pulled out his phone and dialed the phone number to the one and only Shadow King, "Kyoya-senpai, we are in the music room and it looks like the boss is in a coma."

"What are you talking about?" Kyoya sighed and pushed up his glasses as was his habit.

"He came running into our first period class this morning and when sensei kicked him out, he told her he was telling us of a lunch meeting. Then he told Hikaru and I that it was cancelled and not to show up."

"So you did anyway?" The third year asked.

"Well yah, but when we came, Tamaki-senpai is on the ground and unmoving. We aren't sure where Haruhi is since we thought he was meeting her and didn't want us around when he did it."

"Haruhi just walked out the door with Mori-senpai, Chika, and Satoshi. I will be up there in a few minutes. That idiot probably tried to arrange a private lunch and didn't expect the others to show up," Kyoya stated and hung up the phone. When he got up to the club room, he found Hikaru and Kaoru munching on the lunch Tamaki had ordered for he and Haruhi and his best friend was still lying on the ground with what appeared to be gummy bears stuck to his face, "What did you two do?"

"We got bored," they stated together.

That seemed to be their answer to all of the mischief they created at Ouran and he loathed those moments in time when they could find nothing better to do than to wreak havoc on innocent lives. He looked and grabbed a pitcher of water that was on one of the tables and poured it over his unconscious friend hoping that would get Tamaki out of his stupor. It did.

Sitting up quickly, Tamaki wiped water out of his eyes and sucked in a deep breath like he had been drowning, but then he started to cough from choking on the water that had made it into his mouth. Glancing from side to side, he spotted his best friend, but no longer saw Haruhi, "Mommy, they took her!"

"Who took her?" Kyoya asked already knowing what the answer was.

"The neighbors! I was just trying to have some quality time with our little girl," Tamaki cried and shut up as soon as he was hit in the face with a towel.

The Host Club vice president was ready to smack his own friend, "She is not our little girl and they didn't take her. She and the others went to have lunch together. I will not tell you where because you would probably interfere and right now they are probably not happy with you. Did you arrange to have a private lunch with Haruhi?"

"Well yes, but it was daddy/daughter time," Tamaki tried to defend his actions.

"Tamaki go get cleaned up before you're late to another class today. You should know better than to pull stunts like that," Kyoya ordered as he helped his friend to his feet. He wasn't sure what it was going to take to get through to his blonde friend, but he hoped Tamaki realized he had zero chance with the female host soon because he didn't know how much more he could take without trying to ring Tamaki's neck himself. He really believed this was going to be a longer year than last year was and he could already feel the migraine coming on.


	9. Game or Punishment

**A/N: I think I need to supply Kyoya and Mori with a jumbo size bottle of Excedrin Migraine. Poor guys will probably need it the rest of the year. In fact, I better get them several boxes of the stuff so that they don't run out. Seriously between Tamaki, the twins, and the rest of the school, murder may be committed at Ouran and Agatha Christie will have the title of her next book Death of a Host: A Miss Marple mystery. LOL. Thank you Mtnikolle for the update on the counter. For those who are curious it is Tamaki (11), Hikaru (3), and Kaoru (2). Oh those boys just don't learn. Here is the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it!**

Chapter 9 – Game or Punishment

The rest of the week seemed to pass by without too many more incidents, or at least not major ones. Tamaki was attempting to stay away from Haruhi and give her some space. This could have been because he hurt his neck when he fell backwards at her stinging words during the lunch time debacle. Immediately running to his best friend in the classroom, he cried that day (complete with real tears falling down his cheeks), "Our daughter hates me and is learning bad things from Mori-senpai... and, and my neck hurts mommy!"

Kyoya was reading a book and never paused or looked up at his friend as he said, "Well that is your own fault. I recommend you call the chiropractor." He watched from the corner of his eye as his best friend gasped loudly making the most idiotic sound as he did so. Chuckling to himself, he knew the topic was going to be dropped now since his friend was nothing more than a frozen mass taking up space in their classroom. In fact, it was nice and quiet for the rest of the week and Kyoya had to wonder if it was the calm before yet another storm. With the group he associated with… it was all together too much of a possibility.

The storm surge came over the weekend when Tamaki called him at 6:30 am on Saturday morning. The death of the host king would come soon if the blonde idiot wasn't careful. Snarling into the phone, he wasn't even sure what had prompted him to answer it except that if he didn't, he knew that Tamaki would keep calling back in five minute intervals until Kyoya answered, "Do you realize what time it is?"

"Morning?" Tamaki audibly gulped just now looking at the clock next to him. He had been so excited about his latest idea that he had woken up from his dream and had picked up the phone to call the Shadow King without another thought.

"Very good Tamaki. It is morning, but do you happen to know what time it is?" Kyoya sneered sarcastically.

Gulping again, the half Frenchman knew he was in trouble if he didn't start talking fast, "S-sorry Mon Ami! I am just now noticing that it is early, but you know what they say: 'the early bird catches the worm.' I had the most wonderful dream and I know that when I tell you everything, you will agree that it is worth waking up early for!"

The Host Club vice president pinched the bridge of his nose already knowing a headache was imminent, "Tamaki, I am about to hang up this phone!"

"NO!"

"Then talk fast. You have two minutes to convince me you are not the world's biggest baka!"

Knowing that his best friend was probably indeed timing his speech, he rushed to explain, "I had this dream that Haruhi has been missing all of us and she didn't know how to ask us all over. Of course, father's intuition kicked in and I knew it was her calling out from her dreams to mine telling me that she wanted us to come over this weekend and keep her company. I know that you probably think that I am crazy and everything, but we really haven't spent any time with daughter lately and she has to be missing us. I figure we will call everyone over and surprise her with brunch. Then we will show her how much we love her by spending time with her in that cramped apartment she calls a home. By the way mommy, is there any way we can buy Haruhi a bigger house?"

Kyoya could feel a distinct twitch in his eye and placed his fingers over it to try to get it to stop, but it wouldn't. He wanted to literally reach through the phone and kill his best friend at that moment in time. Not for the first time, he was wondering how they were friends in the first place. Giving up on getting the twitch to stop, he ran his hand through his hair, "We will not buy her a house because she would not like that and besides, she is engaged to Mori-senpai and he will buy her a house when they get married in two years. I am going to hang up now and go back to sleep. If you value your life and our friendship, you will not disturb me until a more decent hour of the day." He disconnected the call and slammed the phone down onto his nightstand before covering his head and surrendering to oblivion yet again.

Huddling on his bed with his teddy bear, Kuma-Chan, Tamaki wondered if he was going to live or die that day as he watched the clock tick the time away. He decided against calling the twins because they would probably still be sleeping and would just tease him. Mori and Hunny might be up, but they would try to talk him out of his plan since it seemed they were trying to keep him from Haruhi, and their brothers were on their side. No, it was better to wait a little bit longer and then call Kyoya back. He waited as the seconds and minutes ticked by at a slow pace taunting him and telling him he didn't control time, but the clock did.

At 9:30, Tamaki decided it was a more "decent hour" per Kyoya's request and picked up the phone to call his raven haired friend, but paused. What if the Shadow King was still sleeping? What if 9:30 wasn't late enough? Second guessing himself, the Host Club king decided he needed backup and recruits… and he knew just the two people that would be able to help him with his plans. Hopefully they would only come out with minor injuries instead of something that would require hospitalization.

Dialing the phone number to Hikaru's cell phone, Tamaki waited three rings before someone picked up. "Tono?" The tired voice on the other end of the line questioned.

"What are you two still doing in bed? It is time to get up! We are going over to visit Haruhi today and we need to pick up mommy on the way. Now get up and get ready because I am on my way over to your house right now!" Tamaki ordered and then hung up without giving them a chance to protest. He was less afraid of them than he was Kyoya, plus he knew mention of Haruhi and the twins would jump to follow through with whatever plan he had decided upon.

Once the twins were in the car and they were on the way to Kyoya's, they both confronted their leader, "Why are we going to Haruhi's and does Kyoya-senpai know about this?"

"Does Haruhi know about this?" Hikaru questioned.

Lifting an eye brow, Kaoru continued the interrogation, "Does Mori-senpai know about this?"

"Are the others meeting us there?" They finished together. They could already tell by the nervousness that Tamaki was exuding, no one else besides the three in the limo were aware that the host club was going to Haruhi's for a visit.

"So Tono, when are you going to tell the Morinozuka and Haninozuka brothers?" Kaoru narrowed his eyes on Tamaki, who had yet to say anything.

"I-I-I, well you s-see…" Tamaki stammered before pausing.

Leaning forward so that their faces were even closer to Tamaki, they both smirked knowing Tamaki was about to get into trouble, "We're listening." It might turn out to be a fun morning after all.

"Daughter called out to me in her dream. She wants to spend time with us and doesn't know how to ask. Of course as her daddy, I knew exactly what she wanted," the president started sounding defensive.

"Uh huh," Hikaru rolled his eyes. Tamaki was starting to get weirder and weirder it seemed.

"I called mommy earlier and told him of the plan, and he told me to bother him at a more decent hour. This is a better time than when I called, so I am following his dictate!" The blonde declared.

Kaoru had to know, "How early did you call senpai?"

Pushing his index fingers together and tapping them against each other, Tamaki looked down and muttered sheepishly, "6:30 am."

"Do you have a death wish or something?" The twins yelled in unison.

"Well, it is later in the morning now and he only told me to bother him at a more decent hour. This is that," the president raised his eyes staring at his redheaded kohais through his bangs.

Hikaru and Kaoru looked at each other and then back at the founder of their club and smiled widely, "Oh we are definitely in." Most people at that smile would have been running for the hills, but Tamaki returned the grin and looked like a boy that was just told he was going to Disneyland. As the twins laughed mischievously, they both thought, _"Today is going to be a good day indeed."_

They arrived at Kyoya's house and the twins followed Tamaki in. When they were just outside of the Shadow King's bedroom door, the blonde pulled out his phone and called his best friend. He really didn't want to get anything thrown at his head right now, or ever again; however, when he called there was no answer. Swallowing hard, he knew there was no choice in the matter. The trio would have to enter the room and be prepared for anything. They were entering the war zone and Kyoya had deadly aim even while he was half asleep.

Gently twisting the door handle, Tamaki pushed on the door and it swung open, but before he could hit the wall, he grabbed it. The plan was to wake up Kyoya, but he didn't want to do damage before that. He softly tip toed up the stairs leading to Kyoya's bed with the twins following closely behind. As they crested the top of the stairs, the trio found themselves in the loft where the bed lay. The twins decided to remain on the stairs so that they were out of the line of sight, and the bespectacled vice president would only concentrate on his crazy best friend.

"K-Kyoya," Tamaki called out, but he got no response. He tried again and this time bellowed in order to make sure he got through to his friend, "KYOYA!"

The next thing the trio noticed was that a hand shot out from under the covers and grabbed the first thing it could reach: a leather-bound hardback edition of War and Peace… unabridged. The book went sailing through the air and Tamaki ducked. Kyoya had counted on his best friend attempting to evade the missile and aimed lower than he normally would have, hitting the blonde in the gut hard enough to temporarily knock the air out of him and forcing him to his knees. The Shadow King of Ouran does not miss his intended target when he was disturbed before he wanted to be, especially not after when the target already woke him up at 6:30 in the morning with an asinine phone call. Sitting up and glaring at the trio of morons in his room a dark aura surrounding him, Kyoya snapped, "I don't know what you are doing here, but you have bothered me enough for today. Now I am going back to bed, you know what to do!" He fell back onto his bed and was once again asleep.

The twins were too terrified of what just happened to laugh and tease their president. Glancing at the blonde that was clutching his stomach, they whispered, "What are we going to do now boss?"

Groaning, Tamaki looked up and spoke through clenched teeth, "Well you heard him, we know what to do. Grab his clothes, get him dressed, and let's go see Haruhi!" He was depending on the twins to get the vice president ready because honestly he still couldn't move… that book was heavy.

The twins did as they were told knowing that if Kyoya did damage to anyone, it would be his blonde best friend before he would hurt others since Tamaki was the ring leader. Grabbing a fashionable outfit, they got their second in command dressed and dragged him out of his house to the car. They were soon on their way to surprise Haruhi with a visit.

"So boss, when are you going to call Mori-senpai and Hunny-senpai and tell them about the Host Club meeting at Haruhi's?" Kaoru inquired.

"Well they see her all of the time, so I thought today could be just us," Tamaki murmured.

Hikaru's eyes grew, "You aren't planning on calling them?"

"She wants to spend time with us and they spend time with her all of the time," he whined.

The twins looked at each other and Hikaru nodded at Kaoru. The younger twin pulled out his phone and sent a text message to Mori and Hunny, "Tono going to Haruhi's. He bringing us and Kyoya-senpai. You need to come 2. On way now. Tell yur bros."

Mori was getting ready to head over to Haruhi's to pick her up for their date when his phone notified him of a new text message. Opening the new text, he felt like banging his head against the wall and yelling bloody murder; however before he did any of that, he had to call and warn his fiancée of the impending doom headed her way. As soon as he heard her pick up the line, he rushed to explain, "Haruhi, get out of the apartment now. Tamaki and the others are on their way to ambush you. Call me when you are out of there and let me know where you are. I will pick you up."

"Okay," Haruhi said breathlessly and grabbed her jacket and purse, pausing only long enough to put on her shoes before she was running out the door. She was hoping and praying that she would be able to get out without being caught. She didn't question anything because if they were already on their way, it could be a window of a few seconds to several minutes before they showed up. She hated to leave her father to deal with them, but she needed to escape and silently promised her sleeping parent that she would make it up to him later. Just as soon as she was across the street and turning the corner, Haruhi saw Tamaki's limo approaching her apartment building and mentally swiped at her brow; she had made it without a single moment to spare. Pulling out her phone when she was a little further down the block, she called her fiancé back, "Takashi, I made it out of there, but we owe my dad."

"I know. Mitsukuni, Satoshi, and Yasuchika are on their way over to your place now to try and do damage control. Where should I pick you up?" Mori sighed relieved that they wouldn't have to deal with the others today.

"I will head to the book store by the supermarket, pick me up there."

"Ok. I love you."

"I love you too Takashi," she smiled. She thought she heard the faint sounds of a scream in the background, but she told herself not to look and not to think about it.

**_Meanwhile back at Haruhi's house…_**

Kyoya had woken up just as the limo was pulling to a stop and took in his surroundings before he sent an icy glare at his soon to be ex-best friend, "What the hell am I doing here?" They had managed to drag him out of bed unknowingly yet again, but this time he was silently thankful he wasn't waking up in the middle of a shopping expo alone without his wallet or cell phone.

Grabbing each other in a hug, Hikaru and Kaoru sent up a silent plea to spare their lives. Shaking as they held each other tight, they both pointed at the only other host in the car with them.

"Now Kyoya, I told you this morning that we were going to come and spend the day with Haruhi. She wants family time and didn't know how to ask for it. Remember?" Tamaki stated trying to sound more confident than he was, but the tremor in his voice gave him away.

Narrowing his eyes on the president of the club, Kyoya growled, "So you got me out of bed because you think Haruhi wants to spend time with you when she hasn't seen Mori-senpai much this whole week? Oh and let's not forget that she normally has kendo lessons on Saturday morning. Did you ask Haruhi if she wanted to spend time with us? Did you ask her if it was alright for us to come over?"

"Well no, I told you earlier father's intuition told me because she told me in her dream that she wanted us to spend time together," Tamaki felt like he had been defending his actions all morning.

"Your dream?" Kyoya inquired and knew that it sounded like he thought his best friend had completely lost whatever sanity he had.

Huffing in exasperation, the blonde declared, "Of course my dream. Now are we going to go up there and see our little girl, or are we going to sit in here and argue all day?"

"Did anyone call the others? If this is a Host Club meeting then we should all be here," he leered.

Before Tamaki could respond with another stupid answer, Kaoru spoke up, "I did Kyoya-senpai."

"You did?" Tamaki asked incredulously.

Raising an eyebrow, Kyoya asked, "Problems?"

"N-no. Can we go now?" The blonde pouted. He wanted to get up to the apartment before the others showed.

"After you," Kyoya smirked and waived him off with his hand. If Haruhi was home, she would deal with Tamaki, and if Ranka was home… well Tamaki better hope his last will and testament was in order because in the year that Tamaki and the cross dresser have known each other, the Fujioka patriarch still didn't like the Host Club president.

The four teens made their way up to the apartment and as Tamaki knocked, Kyoya and the twins stood behind him. They wanted anyone that answered the door to have a clear shot and they didn't want to be caught in the cross fire.

"Haruhi, it's daddy! Open up! I know you wanted to see us today," Tamaki called out as he knocked on the door once again. When he got no answered, he proceeded to pound on the door until he heard the lock flip indicating someone was about to open the door. Putting on his best smile, he got ready to greet his favorite female host, but instead got a fist to the face and was pushed to the ground where Ranka walked on him like he was a new carpet.

Sleeping in, Ranka's beauty sleep was disturbed by the one voice that grated on him more than anyone else. He tried to cover his ears with his pillow, but the incessant voice managed to burrow its way through the pillow stuffing and into his ear causing him to sit up and growl. As soon as he flung the door open, he had to do something about the mouth where the voice was being generated from and swung first before throwing Tamaki. The noise had stopped and he could look around without the irritating fly to bug him. Smiling at the club's vice president, Ranka gushed, "Oh Kyoya, it's just you and the twins. How lovely it is that you would choose to visit me today!"

"Of course Ranka, you are just as beautiful as ever," Kyoya smiled and bowed to Haruhi's father.

"Hello Ranka," the twins said together still amazed at the torture Tamaki went through every time he and the patriarch met.

Ranka giggled, "Oh do stop it. You will make me blush. Why don't you three come in? I know that we had a pest problem right before you got here, but I think I squashed the bug before it could do any harm. You know how Haruhi is about keeping the house clean and free from anything rotten."

Kyoya, Hikaru, and Kaoru walked on and over Tamaki in order to get inside the apartment. Just as the door was about to close, the blonde stuck his hand in and gave an ear piercing scream as his appendage was crushed in the doorway.

"Oh my, there appears to be a rat stuck in the doorway. How odd, we don't usually have a rodent problem," Ranka sighed as he kicked Tamaki in the face sending him flying into the railing before slamming the door and effectively shutting the unwanted guest out of the house.

Tamaki finally recovered and started to knock on the door, "Ranka-san, please let me in. I want to see Haruhi too!"

Opening the door, Kyoya grabbed his friend and snapped in hushed tones, "Get in here and shut up before you find yourself in a dumpster or cut to pieces!"

The half French teen walked quietly into the living room and sat at the table pouting. He wanted to go in the closet and hide away, but last time he did that Ranka had threatened to dismember him with a dull butcher knife and he really didn't want to find out if the older man was serious or not. Clearing his throat when the four other people around the table were exchanging pleasantries, Tamaki inquired, "Where is Haruhi? I thought she would be home so that the Host Club could spend the day together."

Ignoring the boy he very much did not like, Ranka smiled at Kyoya, "So what are you wonderful three boys doing here?"

"We came to see if Haruhi was available today. I know that normally she has kendo practice on Saturdays, but we were hoping to be able to catch her," Kyoya replied politely.

"Oh, I am sorry, but you should have called first. I hate that you came all this way for nothing, but since they didn't see each other a lot this week, Takashi and Haruhi have decided to spend the day together. I am not sure what they are doing, but that wonderful fiancé of hers has a whole day planned for them," the father gushed and got a dreamy look on his face, "He really is such a magnificent man and dotes on her all of the time. Of course Kyoya, I would have been happy if she had picked you also, but Takashi really suits her and her personality."

"I could have suited her too," Tamaki mumbled under his breath.

Ranka narrowed his eyes and snarled, "What was that worm?"

Tamaki immediately realized his mistake and tried to backtrack, "Nothing, nothing at all Ranka-san! He is a good man and she is an exquisite woman!" He really hoped that Ranka accepted his answer because he didn't know how much more punishment he could take today.

Sneering at the blonde, Ranka stated, "That is what I thought. You better watch it you little miscreant, if I hear of you interfering in my little girl's relationship, you will regret it!" He turned to the other three and beamed, "Oh you three boys are so well mannered and so good looking. Almost any of you would have made a good match for my baby, but she made her decision and I couldn't be happier for her."

"Yes, we are all happy for her and Mori-senpai. They are very well matched and complement each other very well," Kyoya gave the father his best host smile. He did mean it though, Haruhi and Mori were perfect for each other, and he couldn't think of another host that would be better suited for the girl.

A knock at the door halted conversation momentarily as Ranka got up to answer the door. The others in the living room could hear greetings being exchanged before the patriarch returned with three other hosts, "Look the others showed up too. As I was telling the others, Haruhi isn't here today because she is out with Takashi all day."

Giggling, Hunny winked at Ranka since the bunny loving college freshman knew exactly what the couple was doing today, "We know Ranka-Chan, but since the others were gathering here, we thought we would join them. So now that we can't spend the day with Haru-Chan and Takashi, what are we going to do Tama-Chan?" Even without Kaoru's text, he would have known who the instigator was since it could only be Tamaki.

"I guess we go home because there really is nothing else to do," Tamaki pouted some more. He really wanted to spend time with Haruhi, but today was not his day.

"We have an idea," the twins stated smiling at everyone and pausing for dramatic effect.

"What?" Tamaki warily probed. He wasn't sure he trusted those smiles or the twins in general.

"Dodge ball," Hikaru and Kaoru's grins grew and the laughed just a little.

It was enough to give Tamaki chills because they were looking right at him when they said it. He felt like he was being measured for a coffin, "I-I-I don't think anyone else will want to p-play."

Everyone looked at each other and then back at Tamaki, "We're in." Even Kyoya had agreeing to this game and he never agreed to anything like this.

Tamaki knew he was in trouble, serious trouble and didn't know how to get out of it, "I might have a prior engagement."

Pushing his glasses up so that they glared, Kyoya smirked, "You don't. In fact you don't have dinner with your father or grandmother until Tuesday. Your calendar for the weekend is actually quite clear."

"Then it is settled. We will go and play dodge ball," Hikaru snickered.

"Kyoya-senpai, if you would like, you can be the referee… unless someone else would like to be that," Kaoru sniggered.

The blonde king was already raising his hand, "I will be."

"Nope, as the president of the Host Club, you must participate. If he doesn't want to be referee, I will be. Right Kyoya-senpai?" Chika sneered, daring Tamaki to counter what he said.

"That would be correct Yasuchika," Kyoya grinned, "But I will be the referee. Tamaki already missed dodging something that was thrown at him this morning."

The twins laughed and the others looked at Kyoya with questioning gazes, but he only shrugged and said, "He tried to wake me up twice today."

Understanding was soon found on everyone's face and they all looked at Tamaki as they rolled their eyes. Laughing, Hunny jumped up first, "Thank you for your hospitality Ranka-Chan! Let's go play dodge ball!" He was followed by the others, everyone more eager than Tamaki to play this silly game.

Tamaki was downright nervous about playing. He had heard about the game and watched a movie from America about it and the only thing he knew for sure… it was a dangerous sport. He wondered if this was punishment for waking Kyoya and trying to impose on friends today. He just prayed he survived.


	10. Let's Play Dodgeball

**A/N: Does anyone really feel sorry for Tamaki at this point. Dodgeball? Ok, so this is what happened. I was watching the movie Dodgeball for some reason and I thought… what if the hosts played it? What would happen to Tamaki? Ergo the setup. With Kyoya being the referee, this could be… interesting. Kyoya has checked the programming on our counter equipment and everything is ready for the increase of "hits" Tamaki and the twins may suffer at the hands of everyone else. I am once again supposed to read a disclaimer… None of the hosts or myself can be held liable for any damage done to Tamaki in the making of this chapter. Enjoy it all!**

****Dodge ball rules come from the National Amateur Dodgeball Association. **

Chapter 10 – Let's Play Dodgeball

"I wonder what is going on at home," Haruhi pondered aloud sitting next to her fiancé in a small restaurant.

Mori tried not to laugh as visions of Tamaki being tortured by Ranka floated through his mind. Walking into his vision were his brother and two cousins, and suddenly a small snicker escaped, "I don't think your father would kill him. Just maim him a little." In reality, Mori wanted to do some maiming himself and sort of wished he had been there with Tamaki showed up unannounced so that he could have had a few words for the blonde teen. Well, another day perhaps because it wasn't like Tamaki's shenanigans would stop anytime soon.

Laughing, Haruhi nodded and pictured Tamaki's body being thrown through the wash cycle of the washing machine, eyes spinning as he tried to walk after the spin cycle. She couldn't contain herself as well as Mori could and found herself out of breath leaning against the tall man for support until her mirth subsided a little bit, "I think you might be right."

Their waitress came to their table and took their food orders stopping all talk of the hosts and their president. Now was a time for them to enjoy each other and spend some quality time together since they hadn't had a lot of it this previous week.

**_Somewhere else in Tokyo… _**

The twins had been prepared, and as soon as everyone was in the car, they gave instructions to the driver on where to go. They had already found an indoor dodgeball court and had been holding onto the information for days waiting for their chance to spring it on the others. Today was that day and Tamaki had created the perfect excuse to play. They knew that even though Mori and Haruhi were not there, others were itching for an excuse to teach the "king" a lesson that he would never forget. Dodgeball would do that, and it would allow everyone to have fun. It was a win-win in their eyes.

As the car pulled up to the dodgeball facility, the twins escorted everyone inside and they were led to one of the courts that were not being used currently. Hikaru was the first to start the explanation, "We are going to be using the official dodgeball rules."

Tamaki saw this as his opportunity to speak up and get out of playing, "Don't the rules say you have to have six to a team? We will only have three. Oh well, can't play. Let's just go home." He was ever hopeful, but the gleam he saw in both Hikaru and Kaoru's eyes told him that he was doomed.

Chuckling, the twins looked at each other before their gazes once again rested on their leader. Kaoru decided to field that question, "Normally that would be the case, but since we are not playing an official match, we don't need the right amount of people to play. This is just for fun after all. You wanted to spend family time together, didn't you Tono?"

"N-N-Naturally I did, but since we are missing a couple of people, I think f-family time should be postponed. You wouldn't want to upset your sister, w-would you?" Tamaki stammered trying to sound so much more confident than he felt.

"Actually Tamaki, I have Haruhi on the phone right now," Kyoya smirked and turned on the speaker phone, "Haruhi, would you like to repeat what you just said for the sake of everyone standing here?"

"Sure Kyoya-senpai. I said I hope that you guys have fun playing dodgeball. We used to play it in grade school. Don't worry about us not being there. You have bonding time by yourselves and we will see you next week. Bye!" Haruhi giggled and then disconnected the call.

Kyoya pushed up his glasses and grinned, "Well as you can see, she would like us to continue as we are. So we will not wait."

"Well if she says that is what she wants," Tamaki muttered and then gulped loudly, "Then I guess we can continue." He took in a deep breath and summoned his courage, "Hikaru, what are the rules."

"We knew you'd see it our way!" The told him gleefully. There was still that glint in their eyes that made everyone around them wonder what they had up their sleeves.

"The rules are simple. You have to hit someone with a live ball to get them out. A live ball is one that is thrown and does not hit anything else first. That can be the floor, wall, ceiling, another player, a ball, etc. If someone catches a live ball before it bounces without dropping it, the person that threw it is out. You can only exit the court at the end line to get the stray balls or if you are out," Hikaru started.

Kaoru picked up from there, "There is going to be an opening rush. Basically when Kyoya-senpai gives us the signal, we will rush to get two of the balls that were placed on the center line. You can only go for the balls to the right of your court. Normally there would be a total of six balls, but since we are not playing with the right number of players, Hikaru and I decided to eliminate a couple of the balls. If you get a ball during the rush, you have to take it behind the attack like before it can be thrown. Typically each game is only three minutes long, but I say we play until one side has everyone out. What do you think Hikaru?"

"I agree Kaoru. I think also if you are accidentally hit by your own team member you should stay in. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, I would brother since it wasn't the opposing team that hit you," Kaoru sniggered trying to keep a straight face since this was a normal rule in dodgeball. He could see the half French idiot getting a little paler at him and his brother's discussion. "What about the rule about returning to play?"

"Let's put that to a vote. Some leagues play that if your team catches a ball, a player that was out can return to play. So if Kaoru was out and I caught a ball that the other team threw, it would allow him to come back in and play. Do we want to use that rule, or just say once eliminated, you're done?" Hikaru inquired.

"I say done!" Tamaki declared emphatically.

"I think we should let them come back and play," Hunny smiled, but there was something in that grin that made everyone sweat drop. They were a little afraid of him right then.

"Let's put this to a vote, shall we?" Kyoya suggested. "All those in favor of using the rule raise your hands… I hate to say this Tamaki, but you are the only one with a hand down, so you lose."

"You haven't even asked about who doesn't want the rule!" Tamaki whined.

"There is no point. Five people had their hands up in the air," Kyoya scowled at his friend.

Tamaki knew he was grasping at straws and he didn't care, "To properly take a vote, you still need to ask. They could change their minds or maybe you counted wrong." The look his best friend was giving him, made him want to run to his corner and cower in the darkness in order to cultivate his growing mushroom collection.

Narrowing his eyes on his best friend, the bespectacled third year snapped, "Ok, all those in favor of not using the rule raise your hands… Tamaki, you lose. You are the only one with a hand up, we will use the rule. If you catch a live ball from the opposing team, you can bring back a player that has been eliminated from your team."

The blonde third year groaned. He had lost the vote and now the torture might be endless. Out of all of the commoner games, this was the one he had tried to stay away from, had dreaded the most, and had a fear about. Someone could hit his face, his beautiful face, and then where would he be? He loved his good looks.

"Everyone please remember that you are only allowed to hit from the shoulders down. Hikaru, Kaoru, I am mainly reminding you about that," Kyoya stated.

Sighing loudly, the twins nodded. It wasn't that they weren't aware of that rule; they just thought they could have some fun with it. Oh well, below the shoulders still left plenty of good target areas. "We have already taken the liberty of separating everyone into teams," the twins informed everyone.

"You have?" Chika questioned. He wasn't sure if he trusted the identical mischief makers, and looking around at his choices, the only person he wouldn't mind being on a team with was Satoshi. He had issues with his brother, but he hated Tamaki more. He didn't trust the twins to not turn their backs on their own team members. If they made the teams, this could be very bad.

"We will be on a team with Tono. That leaves the cousins as a team," Hikaru smirked. This was going to be interesting. He knew that Chika didn't exactly see eye to eye with his brother and they fought every chance they got, and they had a plan to use this to their advantage and win the game.

Kaoru gave Satoshi a very pointed look, "No use of a shinai."

"I wasn't going to!" Satoshi defended as he placed it down on one of the benches out of bounds.

Tamaki was in a state of shock: he and the twins against the Haninozuka and Morinozuka families. He felt like he was a dead man and needed to make sure his will was in order. Why did the twins do this to him? They had to be up to something because he could see it on their faces. He was definitely doomed.

"Don't forget the area near the dividing line for the teams is the neutral zone," Hikaru stated.

"You have to throw the balls from the attack zone behind the neutral zone," Kaoru explained.

Pressing their faces together and holding hands, the twins smiled and said, "Now let's have some fun, shall we?"

"YAY!" Hunny shouted and placed Usa-Chan down on the bench next to Satoshi's shinai, "You sit here Usa-Chan so that you can be out of the way from everything. If anyone gets out of line, you have my permission to use Satoshi's shinai."

Everyone observed as the shortest host give instructions to his pink bunny and thought it was cute, well Tamaki and the twins did. Knowing he was dangerous, it was truly easy to forget that he was the threat to national security when he acted like that. Kyoya, Chika, and Satoshi knew it was mostly an act. The loli shota loved his cute, but he was also one of the most observant and smartest people he cool type knew, and he was very competitive in sports.

Hunny turned around and laughed mirthlessly, "Hehehe. Let's play some ball."

The twins and Tamaki deadpanned and started to shake. Hunny had that look in his eye that he got when he was about to fight someone. This was supposed to be a fun, friendly game… wasn't it?

The two teams placed the four balls on the line and backed up against their end line nearest the back walls on their sides waiting for Kyoya to call the game started. The twins were wondering why they didn't pick different teams, but they had a plan and it involved Tamaki being on their team.

"Begin!" Kyoya called out and watched as both sides made a run for the balls in the middle.

By some miracle Tamaki was able to get one of the balls from the center line and brought it back to his teams attack zone. Hikaru grabbed the other ball; while Satoshi and Hunny were the two that grabbed the balls on the other team. The eldest twin threw the ball at Chika, but the younger man dodged it and caught it after it hit the wall behind him. Hunny threw his ball at Tamaki, but the president used the ball in his possession as a block and deflected the projectile. Satoshi also threw at him, but once again he was able to deflect. Hikaru and Kaoru were able to get both balls after they were deflected and threw them back at Hunny and Satoshi. Unfortunately Tamaki was in the way of Kaoru's ball and it hit him in the back right between the shoulder blades.

"Gomen!" Kaoru quickly yelled, but there was an undeniable amount of amusement in his voice that was apparent to all around him.

"Tamaki, you have to throw the ball at some point in time," Kyoya reminded him.

Tamaki didn't want to get rid of his ball. It was protecting him, but he knew his bespectacled friend was right. Running up towards the front line of the attack zone, he pulled back his arm in order to throw and proceeded to trip over his own feet, sending the ball towards the other side of the court and somehow it hit Honey in the shin before it ever it the ground. The first person out of the game was Mitsukuni Haninozuka by a complete and utter accident.

"Sorry Hunny-senpai, but you are out," Kyoya called from his referee area.

Glaring at the younger blonde, Hunny left the game and walked over to one of the benches having every confidence that someone on his team would bring him back in the game. It happened less than a minute later. Hikaru threw the ball intending to try to get Chika out, but Satoshi moved to stand in front of his charge at the last minute and caught the ball. Hikaru was out and Hunny was in. He rushed back into the game and smirked at the leaving Hikaru.

Hikaru saw the look Hunny gave him, and he really wasn't worried. He knew his senpai was a competitive man, but the whole point of dodgeball was to get Tamaki. Kaoru had started it all off when he "accidentally" hit the king in the back. Someone needed to change the term from stabbed in the back with a knife to hit in the back with a dodgeball. Oh they had every intention of winning the game and he believed that Kaoru would get him back in, but they also wanted to taunt their favorite subject too and this sport was perfect for that. They could mess with Tamaki and throw balls at the other teams, and in the end they planned to come out on top. However, watching the game from the sidelines, maybe they should have planned better. Chika and Hunny were actually working together and Satoshi had an arm like a cannon. Maybe they could do something that would turn the tides and force an internal implosion on the other side.

Throwing the ball at Kaoru, Satoshi smiled and cheered when Kaoru caught the ball and then dropped it. Too bad the redhead was also hit right after he dropped it because Chika had already launched his ball. So not only did he drop, but the younger twin got hit hard if the wince was any indication. Satoshi chuckled as Kaoru left the game he was able to stay in. Now it was him, Chika, and Hunny against Tamaki. This game was turning out to be a lot of fun.

Tamaki had one ball and each player on the opposing team each had one ball. With a quick glance between themselves, the martial arts masters knew Tamaki would not be able to dodge all three balls at the same time. They were shocked that he was the last man standing, but then again, he was using the ball as a shield more than he was actually playing the game. Every time a ball came flying at him there was a high pitched squeal that escaped from his lips. If they didn't know it was him, they would have thought one of their fangirls had found them and was watching the game.

"On the count of three," Hunny sneered.

The other two spoke up, "Got it."

"What happens on the count of three?" Tamaki looked at the other three players and then at his two team mates sitting on the sidelines. He noticed Hikaru and Kaoru were waving good bye to him and holding each other with fake tears falling down their faces. He knew they were phony because the vial was sitting next to Kaoru on the bench. "What happens on three?"

"One," three sets of arm started to lift in the air. "Two," the arms were in place to launch their balls. "Three," Hunny shouted and all three players threw their balls at their one target and all made contact with a different part of Tamaki's body.

Tamaki heard Hunny counting and dropped his guard to see what was going on. When he noticed that all three arms were moving in synch, he was frozen with terror. _"Surely they wouldn't all throw the balls at the same time," _he thought to himself, but in the next instant he was wrong and forgot to lift his arms to help dodge the projectiles. Hunny's landed in the gut, Chika's in the thigh, and Satoshi's in the shoulder (any higher and Tamaki would have lost his head). All three balls together held the combined power of three very strong people and they hit at the exact same time. The blonde prince was lifted off of his feet and thrown backwards towards the end line, the wall stopping his fall. He swore he could see stars flying around his head at that moment in time.

"Well it looks like the winner is the team of Haninozuka and Morinozuka," Kyoya chuckled as he made his way over to his best friend and crouched down next to him. Slapping his cheeks to try and make him come to, the Shadow King had to admit that he was highly entertained with the ending of the game.

"Are you an angel? You look just like my best friend Kyoya," Tamaki smiled goofily and giggled.

Rolling his eyes, Kyoya pushed his glasses up his nose, "I think he is down for the count."

"Oh no! We didn't mean to hit him that hard," Hunny looked concerned, but the merriment was in his eyes. He didn't feel too bad in all reality because this might teach the other man not to try to show up out of the blue to Haruhi's house.

"Not at all," Chika smirked rolling his eyes too.

Satoshi laughed, "Oh well. It is the name of the game, and it isn't our fault he forgot to dodge the balls."

The twins unable to contain their laughter at the display of the three members of the other team, started to laugh loud and hard. They didn't believe what they were saying for one minute. Although the twins thought it would be a fun way to give Tamaki a hard time, it turned out differently than they originally planned. Next time, they would not be putting the three power players together. That was just dangerous to do.

"I think it is time we leave," Kyoya suggested and looked behind him to see two of his body guards standing there. Tachibana approached and threw Tamaki over his shoulder to carry out to the car, the hosts following behind him and the other body guard bringing up the rear. The vice president of the club wondered if Tamaki learned his lesson about waking people up early and barging in on them because if he didn't, Kyoya was sure he could arrange for another round of dodgeball to be played soon. It was kind of fun to watch after all. Wondering if he could get Mori and Haruhi to play next time, Kyoya scrolled through the pictures he took today of the game, _"These will make great additions to the website and I think the girls will definitely want to buy some of these." _He would review the video of the game Hotta recorded for him later and see if it would be worth selling to their customers. Smiling, he could already picture the profits today's escapades would bring in.

"Do you think the boss will be alright?" Hikaru and Kaoru asked from either side of Kyoya.

Looking up at where Tamaki hung over the shoulder of Tachibana, he smirked, "He will be fine. Besides with as early as he called me this morning, he needed a nap and now he is getting one."

The twins deadpanned and froze in their tracks momentarily. They would never mess with the Shadow King of Ouran, he was dangerous and scary. Glancing at their injured king, they silently agreed he was fair game because it was just amusing to watch his reactions.

Walking behind Kyoya, Hunny brought up the rear of the hosts since he was also behind his brother and cousin. Today had been interesting and he wasn't sure what the twins' game was, but it had turned into an entertaining day. For some reason, he believed that Hikaru and Kaoru's actual plans did not come into fruition, but they should have known better to challenge his family. The Haninozuka and Morinozuka families were not at the top of their games for nothing. Laughing, he looked up and saw Chika and Satoshi giving him a strange look, "What?"

"Nothing, nothing at all Mitsukuni," Chika shook his head. That was his dark laugh and that was never a good thing. Thankfully, he didn't have to train with his brother until the next day.

Satoshi, face palmed knowing that laugh well, "Yah, nothing." He was thinking the same thing Chika was: it was a good thing that the game was over because if not, the other team might be in for a world of hurt. At least Tamaki should have learned his lesson… he hoped because he would prove to his senpai no one came between his big brother and someone Mori loved.


	11. A Challenge is Issued

**A/N: Opinr you are right. LOL. I actually had intended on more hits when I started the chapter, but for some reason, it changed when I was typing it up and decided to have him hit by three balls at once by who were probably the strongest guys there. Not sure if or when he will learn, but that is good for us since Bitter will be a trilogy. He might tone it down, but he can't completely stop or how would I do justice to Bitter 3? LOL. Plus we invested into getting the new counters from Kyoya, so we really have to put them to work and truly test them out… for Kyoya's sake. HAHA. Expect more hits and even Mori will get in on the action. Thank you mtnikolle for being the keeper of the counter (I agree to not counting Kaoru's last hit): Tamaki (17 hits - 4 in just the last chapter), Hikaru (3 hits), Kaoru (2 hits). We are only on chapter 11 and I have more planned. Enjoy the new chapter!**

Chapter 11 – A Challenge is Issued

When Tamaki finally came to, he looked around his surroundings and realized that he was in his room and his own bed. Glancing around the room in confusion, he thought, _"Weren't we just playing dodgeball?" _Then he remembered the three balls coming right at him and he yelped at the memory. The sound of typing slowly permeated his brain and he sat up and found his best friend sitting at the desk in the room working, "Kyoya?"

"It is nice to know that your brain hasn't completely malfunctioned," Kyoya turned around and focused his gaze on the blond lying in the oversized bed. "You will have to wash your face of the whiskers the twins gave you. I didn't get to them in enough time to stop them from drawing on your face again. I don't think it is permanent ink, but I could be wrong." In all actuality, he hadn't really tried to stop them from doing anything to the club president.

Eyes widening, Tamaki screamed and ran to the adjoining bathroom to find that his gorgeous face was indeed marred with ink. The word "baka" was written across his forehead and there were whiskers going from his upper lip and over his cheeks. Turning on the water with more force than was necessary, he proceeded to wash his face trying to get all of the remnants of the black off of his face. He scrubbed until his face felt raw and then he rinsed and looked in the mirror once again sighing with relief that his face was once again the way it was intended to be seen.

The prince of the club walked out of the bathroom and found his amused best friend still sitting the same chair at the desk that he was before Tamaki had made his hasty exit to check what damage the twins had done to his face, "What happened?"

"Well you were passed out and I assume that the twins got bored as they usually do, but where they got the markers, I don't know," Kyoya stated purposely being obtuse in order to tease his friend a bit.

"That is not what I mean!" Tamaki huffed indignantly.

Lifting an eyebrow and smiling at his friend, Kyoya inquired, "Oh, and what exactly did you mean? Let's recap shall we? You called me at 6:30 am. Then you called the twins at whatever time and came over to my house where you attempted to wake me up again. When I told you to get out, you somehow managed to get me dressed and into a waiting car without my knowledge. I don't even want to discuss how you managed to change me out of my pajamas and into regular clothes. Sometimes I wonder if you really are a pervert. Then we just show up at Haruhi's house and she isn't there, but Ranka is and he still hates you. Hikaru and Kaoru decided to play dodgeball where you were pummeled by Mori-senpai's relatives; and no I don't think that was an accident. You were knocked out and Tachibana had to carry you to the car and then he carried you here. I believe that sums up everything." He pushed his glasses up and the lenses caught the glare of the light creating an ominous glow and shielding the wearer's eyes from that of his best friend.

Tamaki knew he was in trouble, but he didn't know what to say to make it better. Clearing his throat, he opened his mouth and prayed silently Kyoya didn't kill him, "I just wanted family time with everyone. Haruhi has been spending all of her time with Mori-senpai and none of it with me. I mean us."

"Based on my information, she actually got to see you more than Mori-senpai this week which is why they planned to spend today together. They are the ones engaged, and therefore she should spend more time with him than you. Are you really that much of an idiot? You lost her and nothing you can do or say will change that. This isn't the 1600's where you can duel for the hand of the fair maiden."

A light bulb went off in Tamaki's head and an idea started to form. _"A duel for the maiden's hand, it is perfect!" _The only thing he had to think about though was what type of challenge could is issue the taller man?

"Don't do it Tamaki. You will lose. Mori-senpai is faster, more skilled, and has more natural instincts in his pinky than you do in your whole body."

"What?" Tamaki asked looking at his friend. He had not been paying attention to anything Kyoya said after he mentioned dueling.

Sighing, Kyoya shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew Tamaki was planning something and whatever that something was, it was going to give him a royal headache. He was pretty sure it involved dueling because he knew that was when his best friend's eyes started to glaze over and he got that stupid "I am planning a new scheme" look on his face. Running his hand through his hair, Kyoya tried to reason with the blond, "Tamaki, whatever you are thinking, stop it right now. You will never win against Mori-senpai and even if by some miracle he lost against you, you still wouldn't get Haruhi because she loves Mori."

"She just hasn't seen my abilities to truly judge me, and therefore I was never really given a fair chance."

If he could have, Kyoya would have hit his head against the wall, but that was unbecoming an Ootori, "She doesn't want you. She had plenty of opportunities to see your true colors and she loves you as a friend. Remember, you want her to be happy."

"I do want her to be happy, but let's face it… I am the king of the Host Club. Doesn't that mean that I am the best specimen of man at Ouran?"

"No, it doesn't."

"I am glad you agree with me. You can be my second."

"When did I agree with you? And my answer is no."

"But Kyoya, you're my best friend and as such, you are supposed to be my second."

"No."

Tamaki knew just how to get his best friend to go along with his desires; he turned on his saddest puppy dog eyes and allowed tears to gather at the corners attempting to fall, but never falling. He murmured, "I guess if you don't want to be my second, you aren't truly my best friend. I am sorry Mon Ami, I knew it was too much to ask, but you are the only one I really trust: my best friend, my first real friend, my fellow host, and mommy of the Host Club."

Kyoya was caught in the trap and he knew he would not be able to get out of it. Tamaki had won. "I will be your second, but do not expect me to cheer for you or bandage you up when you are annihilated in your duel. What are you going to challenge him to?"

"I don't know. I will figure it out and the challenge will be issued tomorrow!"

"Fine then, I am going to go home now," Kyoya stated as he packed up his computer and grabbed his things. Turning back towards Tamaki before he exited the door, he told his best friend, "I would really advise against challenging Mori-senpai. I am not sure why you think you have a chance to win."

"I will win Kyoya, and do you know why?"

He knew better than to ask, but Kyoya had to know what his best friend came up with this time for his prolific explanation, "Why do you think you will come out the winner?"

"Because as soon as Haruhi sees that I can be just as athletic as Mori-senpai, she will know I am the superior host. I am already more beautiful, more talkative, can flatter her more, can understand her wants and needs - which incidentally is to be with me, and we are closer in age," Tamaki declared running up to his best friend and grabbing his arm.

Kyoya knew he shouldn't have stopped and listened for the explanation as he face palmed. Those were the things that didn't really matter to the girl, and that was what Tamaki wanted to concentrate on? He was not going to win. Sighing, the Shadow King probed, "So you think you are better than Mori-senpai and you just have to prove you are more athletic?"

"Of course."

"You really are an idiot. I am not even sure how we are friends sometimes."

"You don't mean that Kyoya," Tamaki laughed as he grinned.

Kyoya deadpanned, "Actually, I did."

"Don't forget tomorrow Kyoya, you will be my second."

Sighing, Kyoya grumbled, "Whatever Tamaki. I am going to go home now. Let go of my arm." He pulled his arm away from Tamaki's grasp and left the second Suoh estate returning to his own house. He wasn't sure how he got into some of the messes he did sometimes, but somehow they all centered around a blond half Frenchman with a daddy complex.

Kyoya knew that Tamaki didn't have a chance with Haruhi, but how could he convince Tamaki of that. Mori would eradicate the club president in any form of athletic event, and the bespectacled teen wasn't about to do anything that would interfere with the events. Kyoya might be his best friend's second, but he wasn't going to cheat for the sake of a contest… not that Tamaki would ever ask him to do that. No, the "king" was on his own for this one, and Kyoya had to wonder what exactly was Tamaki going to challenge Mori with? Athletics: Mori had Tamaki beat. Academics: they were both number two in their classes, but Kyoya knew that as far as points and grades, Mori was slightly ahead of Tamaki. Hosting: Tamaki had a higher request rate, but Haruhi really didn't care about the tricks and stuff that Tamaki pulled in the host club. The Host Club president was going to be dead in the water, but this might be entertaining to watch and Kyoya could get some good pictures for their website.

Haruhi and Mori decided to go back to the Morinozuka estate after they finished eating and shopping. They were watching a movie together and both wondered how the dodgeball game went, but neither was ready to pop the bubble of solitude on their day just yet. However, life intrudes especially when a certain fiancé's mother loves the woman her son chose to marry.

Michiko opened the door to the media room and floated in smiling at the couple that was curled up together watching a movie on the large screen, "Haruhi, it is nice to see you again."

Looking up and over the shoulder of the man next to her, Haruhi grinned, "Hi Michiko-san."

"Well it isn't Okaa-san, but it is better than Morinozuka-san," Michiko giggled teasing the girl. She had been trying to get Haruhi to stop calling by such a formal name for a while now. The best she was able to do was getting the girl to call her by her first name; however, as soon as her son and Haruhi had gotten engaged, Michiko tried to get Haruhi to call her Okaa-san, but it had not stuck yet. The soon to be daughter kept saying after the wedding.

Laughing, Haruhi shook her head, "One of these days."

"Did you need something mother?" Mori asked pausing the movie.

"I was just checking to see if Haruhi would be joining us for dinner tonight," the matriarch explained.

Haruhi looked up at Mori and then back at his mother, "I would like that. Thank you."

"You know you are welcome anytime you want to come over. In fact, if you want, you can stay over. I know your father was going to work extra late tonight, wasn't he?" Michiko inquired.

"He is, but I didn't bring anything with me," the scholarship student stated.

Mori injected knowing it was useless to fight his mother, "You have clothes here from when you left them before."

Tilting her head to the side as she thought about what her fiancé said, she smiled, "I forgot about those. Ok, I will stay, but I need to get home around lunch time tomorrow so that I can finish my homework."

"Excellent. Takashi will make sure you make it home and have the maid make sure your room is ready," Michiko beamed and exited the room before the two teens could say anything.

Haruhi narrowed her eyes on Mori, "You know I think if I ever tried to turn down your mother's offers, I would have a serious fight on my hands."

Mori leaned in and gave her a kiss, "Welcome to my world. Not even my father is able to say no to her."

Laughing, Haruhi wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, "Maybe that is the way it is supposed to be." Before Mori could say anything, Haruhi captured his lips in a passionate kiss. They only broke apart when their heard coughing and throats were being cleared behind them. Both Mori and Haruhi glanced towards the door to find Hunny, Chika, and Satoshi standing there. "We thought you were with the others playing dodgeball," Haruhi probed.

"Short game," Hunny giggled recalling the events of the afternoon.

"What happened?" Mori asked.

The trio proceeded to explain their adventures in dodgeball and told the couple everything that happened since receiving the text message from Kaoru. By the time everything was said, both Mori and Haruhi were laughing at their story.

"So Tamaki got it at the same time from all three of you?" Haruhi queried.

"That's right! I didn't think someone could fly backwards like that from being hit with rubber balls," Satoshi chuckled.

Rolling his eyes, Chika grumbled, "I wouldn't put anything past that moron."

The five teens hung out for a little longer before Chika, Satoshi, and Hunny decided to allow the couple more alone time so that they could finish their movie. At least some of the hosts understood that Mori and Haruhi needed their time together away from everyone else.

When the credits started to roll, Mori and Haruhi's phones both alerted them to a text message. Looking at their phones, they both groaned as they read the missive, "Brunch 2morrow, 1030, meet at Snapping Dragon."

Haruhi was the first to speak, "Do we have to?"

"We don't have to if you don't want to," Mori answered her. If she didn't want to go, he would make sure that they did not attend.

"No, let's go and get this over with. We were able to ditch them today, but I don't think we will be as lucky tomorrow. Plus if we don't go tomorrow, school on Monday will be a true nightmare."

"Then we will go," Mori leaned over and kissed the top of her head. Something told him that something was going to happen tomorrow and he wasn't sure what it was, but he was going to be on his guard.

**_The next morning…_**

As the car pulled up to the restaurant, the occupants could already see that the twins were giving Tamaki a hard time and Kyoya was standing off to the side pretending that he didn't know the trio of troublemakers. The car contained the remaining hosts and none of them were really looking forward to this surprise brunch.

When the car stopped, Satoshi and Chika got out of the car first and Tamaki started to cautiously make his way to the car waiting for the moment that his little girl would get out. Haruhi was next and was pulled into the arms of the princely type swearing his arms were like a boa constrictor. Before she could do anything though, Mori had her out of Tamaki's arms and she was facing the back of her fiancé. Hunny was at her side.

"Mori-senpai you can't monopolize her all of the time. She has other friends and should be able to spend time with them also," Tamaki declared in a moment of bravery.

"She can spend time with you if she wants, but you will not hug her to death like you do," Mori stated.

Eyes brightening, Tamaki tried to go around Mori, but was stopped. "You said I could spend time with her," he pouted.

"I said if she wants to," the tallest host clarified.

Pulling out a glove from who knows where, Tamaki used it to slap Mori's face, "I challenge you to a duel!"

Everyone one deadpanned before yelling, "Ehh?"

"I, Tamaki Suoh, challenge Mori-senpai to a duel for the fair maiden's hand," Tamaki proclaimed and did his best not to try and shy away. He issued the challenge and now he had to follow through.

Rubbing his cheek, Mori glared, "And what do you challenge me in?"

"Kendo!" The blond king declared.

Kyoya face palmed, "You really are an idiot."

Mori grabbed the glove away from Tamaki and smacked him across the face so he would know what it felt like, "I accept." Tamaki Suoh was going down.

**A/N2: Ok, only one real hit against Tamaki in this chapter, but as you can tell we are setting up for a lot of hits. Our counter will be put to the test yet.**


	12. Terms of the Duel

**A/N: I know, I know… Tamaki is an idiot for challenging Mori to kendo of all things since Mori is the master at the sport, but there is a method to my madness (or it is just that I am plain crazy and therefore I need to be evaluated stat). However, I have a plan and reasons for what I am doing. Queue inner mind theatre of author: ****_Wearing black cape, black hat, and for some reason a black moustache. While twirling moustache I laugh evilly as I see Tamaki being lit up like a Christmas tree with all of the hits he will get. Exiting inner mind theatre. _****Ok that was a bit disturbing and that isn't exactly what I have planned, but it is nice to imagine that sometimes. LOL. Enjoy the new chapter everyone!**

**PS… Revenge and Ouran for Dummies will be removed from my account in a couple days and you will be able to find them under CyraAngel. We were told that if we both kept them on our profiles, our accounts could be suspended. Therefore we created a new id for our combined work. Please go there and check it out. Thanks everyone!**

Chapter 12 – Terms of the Duel

"You, you accept?" Tamaki stammered nervously. He knew he was challenging Mori in a contest that he could lose at, but he had to do this for the sake of Haruhi. If he could show her that he could compete with Mori in the taller man's best sport, then Tamaki felt that he would win her over and she would rush to him in a fit of passion. He could picture it all now…

**_Entering Inner Mind Theatre…_**

_Tamaki swings his shinai catching Mori off guard and hits him on the forearm. It was the perfect hit and got the blond king his second point allowing him to win the match. Mori threw down his staff and his helmet like he was having a tantrum (_remember this is inner mind theatre… it isn't supposed to be rational or right). _Tamaki jumps up in the air celebrating his victory and hears his name being shouted. Turning around he saw Haruhi dressed in a pink ball gown with beading and ruffles yelling for him. As she runs towards the mat, he catches her and whispers, "I love you Haruhi."_

_Pulling back ever so slightly, she looks at Tamaki in the eye, "I didn't think you could do it senpai, but now that I have seen it for myself, you are the man I want and need in my life."_

_The blond president hugs her tightly and leans in to give her a kiss, but she looks down and blushes, "What's wrong my darling Haruhi?"_

_"It's just that… did you really do all of this for me?" _

_"I did. You are the sun to my moon, and I love you. I would do anything for you," he declared._

_"You can't have her!" Mori yelled and was suddenly dressed in all black like a dastardly villain. _

_"I think that is her choice to make!" Tamaki bellows and pushes Haruhi behind him, "Haruhi, who do you want to be your prince."_

_Giggling and wrapping her arms around Tamaki's waist from behind, "I only want you Tamaki-senpai. I love you."_

**_End of Inner Mind Theatre…_**

"It's perfect!" Tamaki cried out happily with a beaming smile on his face.

Upon seeing the look on Tamaki's face, everyone around him took one giant step back away from the blond. It wasn't that they were afraid of catching his idiocy, but they would rather not be pulled into anything and they never knew quite what he would do when he snapped out of his fantasies.

Mori studied the man in front of him and shook his head. He wasn't sure what the president's inner mind theatre was showing him this time, but the wild host didn't like whatever it was. He wasn't even sure why Tamaki had challenged him to kendo of all things because he doesn't lose at kendo, especially to amateurs; however, if this is what it took to finally convince Tamaki that he would never be with Haruhi, then so be it. Clearing his throat and gaining the attention of everyone present, he inquired, "How much do you know about kendo?"

That stopped Tamaki and brought him up short, "Umm, well you have a stick and you hit the other guy with it."

All of the hosts face palmed. If he was being serious, then there was a lot of work to do. Mori didn't feel right fighting him in his present condition, but it would take years to even start to get to Mori's level of skill. Sighing, Mori suggested, "I think you need to pick a different challenge."

"NO! I want to challenge you to kendo. IT HAS TO BE KENDO!" Tamaki screamed.

Deadpanning, Mori finally consented, "Fine, you can challenge me to kendo, but I will give you two months to learn what you can."

"But I am ready now!" The half Frenchman declared.

Kyoya shook his head and tried to reason with his best friend, "No you are not. If you were to fight Mori today, you would have zero chance at winning much less surviving the experience. Not that two months will give you much more opportunity, but at least you will be able to learn the kendo basics at that time. The fact that you know some judo will help you in learning the techniques faster."

"There is no way you will win against Taka!" Satoshi sneered.

"Should we plan his funeral now?" Chika smirked.

Satoshi nodded, "I think we should because obviously he has a death wish."

Tamaki started to pout ignoring the two youngest hosts, "But mommy, I wanted to be able to duel today."

"If you really want to, let me just call to make sure I have a doctor from one of the Ootori hospitals that can come and watch the match," the Shadow King stated before pulling out his cell phone.

"I won't fight him today," Mori declared. He was all about a fair fight, and although it would never be truly fair between him and the blond, it would be more sportsmanlike and fairer to wait the two months and allow Tamaki the opportunity to learn kendo. It wasn't all about a stick and hitting people with it.

Brightening, Tamaki declared, "So you forfeit!"

"THAT IS NOT WHAT MY BROTHER SAID!" Satoshi thundered.

"No, I refuse to fight you when you know nothing about kendo. It would be a disgrace to the sport and to my family. I will not bring dishonor to either," Mori corrected.

Haruhi had not said anything up to this point because she had been stunned to hear Tamaki even challenge Mori to a duel, much less a duel involving kendo. _"Is he a complete baka?" _She wondered to herself as she watched the events unfold, and as the conversation flew around her, she started to get more and more irritated until her dark aura started to make itself known, "EXCUSE ME, BUT I AM NOT A PRIZE TO BE WON AT A STREET FAIR!"

"Of course not my dear, you are a princess and deserve only the best," Tamaki stated in a placating manner. If he had only known what that response would have started, he would have probably kept his mouth shut.

The dark aura grew, "If that is the case, there is no reason for a duel."

"Of course there is my dear. You are not with the best and I have to prove to you that I deserve you," Tamaki smiled as he took a step towards the object of his affections.

Taking a step away from Tamaki for each step he took towards her, Haruhi glared, "I am with the best for me and nothing you do or say will change that!"

Tamaki chuckled, "You are so cute when you are upset. It is ok to admit that you are wrong and want to be with me. Once I beat Mori-senpai at kendo, we can be together." He would have advanced further and grabbed Haruhi, but the wild host blocked him.

"I don't think so!" Haruhi growled.

"Tama-Chan, you will never beat Takashi at kendo. Give up now," Hunny stated trying to make the other man see reason.

"Of course I will Hunny-senpai! I have love on my side!" The blond president proclaimed with fireworks and flashing lights appearing behind him going off at the pinnacle of his speech. Where they came from, no one knew and no one wanted to know. It was Tamaki and that was how he was.

Haruhi was fed up and advanced on the third year student. "One sided love," she scoffed and she would have pushed him or tripped him had Mori not stopped her, "Let me go Takashi!"

"No, you need to calm down," Mori told her.

Flashing her eyes to leer at her fiancé, Haruhi snapped, "You are just going to go through with this? You actually think this is ok?"

Mori sighed, "No, but if this will teach him that he cannot have you, then I will do what I can to make sure he does nothing untoward you; even it if means fighting him in a so called duel."

"Where did boss even get the idea for a duel?" Hikaru questioned curiously.

"Probably learned it in history class," Kaoru commented, (if they only knew. LOL).

Shaking his head, Hunny didn't care how Tamaki came up with the idea of a duel; what he did care about was the fact that the Host Club president didn't think there was anything wrong with what he was doing. He knew Tamaki was going to lose, but the other man actually thought he had a chance to win. Hunny decided his friend was utterly delusional, however, he tried to reason with him one more time, "Tama-Chan, there is no way you will win, and if by some ginormous miracle you do win, Haru-Chan loves Takashi and you still won't win the girl. This isn't like it used to be where the man that wins gets the prize. Haru-Chan has a mind of her own and makes her own decisions."

"But Mori-senpai already agreed to the terms. Haruhi is the prize and I will win Hunny-senpai. Why don't you go and have some cake while we talk about the duel," Tamaki proposed giving his friend one of his patented host smiles as he patted the older man's head like a child.

"Ok, that's it!" Haruhi made to grab Tamaki's arm, but before she could someone else got to him. In a flash, she watched as Tamaki's arm was twisted behind him and he was thrown about five feet, "Whoa!"

The twins watched everything unfold and when Tamaki was on the ground, they ran up to him and started to tease him, "You're lucky your alive boss. Hunny-senpai went easy on you."

Twitching, Tamaki slowly opened his eyes and moaned in pain, "Easy?"

"Well he could have killed you," Hikaru told him bluntly.

"He held back a lot," Kaoru laughed unable to contain his amusement.

Together they lifted their friend, "Come on Tono, time to go eat!"

"Not to be rude to anyone here, but I am not up for eating right now. I think I am just going to go home. I have some things to take care of anyway," Haruhi grumbled unhappy about today's turn of events.

"NO HARUHI! You have to eat brunch with daddy!" Tamaki wailed as he regained his composure and ran up to her pulling her in his arms. Before he could tighten his arms around her in a death hug though, he was looking at the clouds and wondering, _"Are those birds and stars floating in the air?"_

"I don't have to do anything you tell me to do. You are not now, nor have you ever been my daddy," Haruhi snarled as she dusted off her hands.

"I will take you home," Mori said.

Turning towards her fiancé, Haruhi narrowed her eyes and shook her head, "No! Right now I want to be alone." She started to walk down the road knowing that Mori and Hunny would not follow her. She really hoped that the others would take the hint and leave her alone also.

"Don't worry Takashi. She is mad right now because of everything that was said today. She will calm down and you two will make up," Hunny assured his friend. The couple didn't stay mad at each other long when they did fight and today had been stressful. He could understand Haruhi's feelings; no one wanted to be a prize of some stupid contest like this. However, as he thought about it, he had to change his thinking, _"Ok, a normal girl would probably not like this, but the other girls at Ouran probably wouldn't mind being the prize of a duel if one of the hosts was the victor."_

Mori nodded and agreed, "I know. I will check on her later."

"No! As her father, it is my duty…" Tamaki started.

Scowling at the other man, the tallest host snapped, "You will stay away from her for now. In fact, until you can best me, you will leave her alone and stop throwing yourself at her. You are not to try to win her over, manhandle her, or woo her at all! I think you have caused enough trouble today. Leave her alone." The last three words were each punctuated with a jab into Tamaki's chest.

The Host Club president rubbed the spot where Mori's finger stabbed him three times knowing there was probably going to be a bruise and finally nodded, "I will leave her alone, but that means that you have to also."

"I don't think so. She is my fiancée," Mori declared.

"For now," Tamaki mumbled.

"Why don't we go inside and discuss the terms of the duel," Kyoya suggested knowing that if they didn't move inside soon, the people that were already looking at them would start to form a small crowd. He was surprised that they had not attracted more attention than they had.

Everyone agreed, but Tamaki held back a little and walked up to Satoshi. If Kyoya insisted he needed to learn, he might as well ask the kendo team captain, "Satoshi will you help me…"

"I don't think so! Why would I help train you when Takashi is my brother and I want Haruhi to be my sister. You picked the wrong person to challenge. Haruhi will become a Morinozuka in the end," the youngest Morinozuka sneered.

Tamaki gulped and stared at the receding back of the younger man afraid to follow after him. He was starting to wonder what he had been thinking challenging Mori to kendo, but it was too late to turn back now. He would push through and win for the sake of Haruhi.

Pushing up his glasses, Kyoya shook his head, "I used to think you were an idiot, but now I think you are the world's biggest baka. Why would you do this? Did you really think Satoshi would help you fight his brother? As your second, I will help find you a teacher, but I do not support you. Haruhi made her choice, but if this is what it takes for you to accept the fact that you lost her, then so be it. Now let's go before you make a bigger ass out of yourself."

Tamaki followed his best friend into the restaurant and the hosts were shown to a private room. It was the way they always did it in case anyone got too loud, which they always did between Tamaki and the twins. By the time lunch was over, the details of the duel had been ironed out and it would take place in two months at the school's dojo. Kyoya decided might as well make a little profit off of Tamaki's idea and let their customer's watch the competition. Mori would win, Tamaki would lose, and everything could go back to the way it should be… at least that was the hope.


	13. Kendo is not Your Sport

**A/N: Well Tamaki has done it this time and looks like he has stepped his foot in it. He thinks if he beat Mori at his own sport that he will get the girl. Is he stupid or what? Ok, our counter (once again thank you to mtnikolle for keep up with it): Tamaki 21, Hikaru 3, and Kaoru 2. Maybe the twins have learned, but obviously Tamaki hasn't, but again, he can't learn too soon or it wouldn't be any fun. Enjoy the new chapter and let me know what you think. Arigato.**

**PS… those who have not seen… Revenge will be moving to the author id CyraAngel. That is the new profile CyraHafise and I set up for our joint work. In another week or so, I will be deleting revenge and Ouran for Dummies from mcangel1976. You can find both at the new profile though. Also, Ouran for Dummies will be continued and a new chapter will be written due to overwhelming requests. New rules and theories will be presented. **

Chapter 13 – Kendo is not Your Sport

The two months Mori gave to his friend and fellow host (we could say rival, but Mori didn't believe there was any real competition, Haruhi was his fiancée) flew by and before either opponent knew it, it was time for the big match. True to his word, Kyoya had been able to secure Tamaki a kendo instructor to teach him the fine art of the sport. Although strong, the blond king was not really suited for kendo. He wanted to keep swinging in the hopes of hitting something and wanted to learn more moves than he did the other stuff that went with the martial art such as meditation and the proper stance. The Shadow King felt like his best friend probably landed on his butt or back more than he got any points, but he only promised Tamaki he would get him a teacher, not that Tamaki would come out on top. No matter how good the teacher or the accolades the sensei had, there was only so much that could be done with the Host Club's president. Kyoya understood this and still was able to find and hire the person that taught Mori everything he knew. It still didn't work, but the vice president tried.

Two months of training non-stop when they weren't in school or Host Club, and finally Tamaki landed a hit on his sensei that could be counted as a point (the night before the match). Kyoya and the instructor thought it was dumb luck, but Tamaki was bouncing off the walls in joy. Unable to rein in his best friend after that point, the bespectacled teen figured that there was nothing else to do but to go home and get ready for the next day. He was wrong. Tamaki on some sort of high from gaining a point and only being knocked down 7 times that night, wanted to celebrate before the big competition where he would show Haruhi he was better than Mori.

"No, Tamaki. You have a match tomorrow and the event is sold out. Surprisingly 28% of the crowd will be male students that want to see the competition. Of that 38%, some of them are the martial arts teams that want to support Mori-senpai. The rest are male students that heard about the kendo match between hosts. Although your stupidity knows no bounds, this has turned quite profitable for the club," Kyoya smirked. It hadn't been hard to arrange and the school chairman fully supported the match and allowed them to rent the dojo for half of the normal price. Knowing that his blond friend's father was planning on seeing his son lose, Kyoya could only shake his head. The relationship between that father and son was so strange it almost, yes almost, made his relationship with his father look normal, and that was far from the truth.

"But Kyoya, we should go out and celebrate my mastery of kendo. There is no way I will lose tomorrow!" Tamaki started with a pout and ended up shouting his declaration.

Pinching the bridge of his nose and forcing himself to count down from ten, Kyoya sighed, "You have a match tomorrow, and if you think after two months of mediocre training due to your inability to grasp the sport is going to allow you to win, you are more delusional than I thought."

"What are you talking about Kyoya?" Tamaki gave his best friend a blank look and then smiled, "Oh I know what is bothering you. You are too stressed Mon Ami. Come I will take you out and we will celebrate my impending victory over Mori-senpai."

He knew it was useless to argue at this point, but part of Kyoya wanted to grab the shinai that was in Tamaki's hand and beat him with it. The Shadow King could picture it in his mind's eye and it made him happy, but his own inner mind theatre was snapped into nothingness when his friend decided to intrude.

Seeing the evil smile that Kyoya was sporting, made Tamaki afraid… very afraid. It was one that he had seen only a few times and it always had a malicious intent. He had to wonder who it was directed towards, but decided to just see if he could just get his best friend to calm down, "Um Kyoya, why don't we go ahead and go to dinner now. You can relax a little bit and have some tea. It will be alright."

In the end, unable to get away from Tamaki, Kyoya acquiesced and together they went out in what the blond called the pre-celebration of Mori-senpai's ultimate downfall. Kyoya knew that there was no way Tamaki was going to win and wondered how badly beaten the child-like teen would be. Mori-senpai was more than skilled and would not lose to a novice, but the blond was so sure he would win. Pushing up his glasses and staring at his best friend, shook his head. It didn't matter what the outcome of tomorrow's duel was because Haruhi would never love Tamaki. So the president would lose in more ways than one… scratch that. He had already lost Haruhi, now his body would just be a little battered, not that it wasn't already with 139 falls from learning kendo for two months (Kyoya kept count for us… thank you oh gracious Shadow King), and countless hits. It was going to be a massacre.

**_Morinozuka Estate…_**

Haruhi and Mori were sitting in the library reading and relaxing before all hell broke loose the next day. She knew her fiancé wasn't too worried about tomorrow's competition, but that didn't mean that she wasn't thinking about it. Regardless of the outcome, she was going to marry Mori… not that Tamaki could actually win that fight, he couldn't. Still, as she glanced up at the man she was leaning against, she wondered what was going through his mind.

"What's wrong Haruhi?" Mori asked startling his fiancée.

Gasping, she wasn't expecting him to say anything to her, but then again that man seemed to be aware of anything and everything going on around him. So looking at him and momentarily staring, he would know it was happening, "I was just thinking about tomorrow."

"Are you worried?"

"About you? No."

Lifting an eyebrow in question, Mori pressed, "About Tamaki?"

"He may be a psychotic idiot that doesn't live even close to the realms of reality, but he is still a friend… although right now I would like to beat him with a shinai."

He knew that wasn't the end of it and probed, "Do you want me to go easy on him?"

"No, but Takashi…?"

"Yes?" He asked when she paused.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow at all?"

"No. I am confident in my skills and I know that there is no way he can match me at the sport. I am focused and ready to face my opponent tomorrow."

"Do you think he has learned enough to even compete?"

"Maybe. I gave Kyoya the number to the man that taught me kendo."

"I thought your father taught you."

"He was one of my teachers, but I learned mainly from Sensei Takahashi. He is very skilled and related to the Morinozuka. In fact, he teaches at one of our dojos. He was the private instructor for both Satoshi and I, and he is the best. If Tamaki is going to learn in a short period of time, sensei is the one that can do it."

"But you don't think Tamaki will be able to learn in two months with intense training?"

"He can learn, but even you know that there is more to kendo than just 'swinging a stick'. It takes focus, energy, meditation, a clear mind and heart… Tamaki doesn't have many of those things; however, he might be able to learn."

"I know it does."

"I trained very hard for years and I practice the kendo arts every day, he has had two months of training. I started training in kendo when I was four."

Haruhi studied her fiancé and then a grin broke out onto her face, "You're going to let him have a point tomorrow, aren't you?"

Chuckling, Mori pulled her close, "I might, but I might not. It is not honorable to just give something away, but I want to see how much he has learned these past couple of months. Besides, between kendo instructions and the several times you had to throw him these past couple of months, he is probably already pretty beat up."

"I didn't throw him that much," Haruhi grumbled.

"You didn't? I seem to recall at least six times that he did not follow the rules and you had to remind him."

"It was eight, and considering this is Tamaki we are talking about, that is a pretty low number."

Mori laughed and kissed the top of her head, "You're right about that one." Turning around and pulling his head close, Haruhi gave him a real kiss only breaking apart when they heard a knock at the library door. "Come in," he called out.

Satoshi stuck his head in the door, "Oh good, you are both still fully clothed." At his brother's dark look, the younger son held up his hands in surrender snickering, "It was a joke Taka! I promise!"

"What do you need Satoshi?" Haruhi asked grinning.

"Dinner's ready, and I just found out that mom, dad, aunt, and uncle will all be at the competition tomorrow," Satoshi informed them of the news he just heard.

It had not exactly been unexpected news and Mori just nodded, "Thank you. We will be there in a few minutes."

"Really? That's all you have to say?" The younger asked his brother.

"I knew it was a possibility. It won't change anything, they have been to our competitions before," the elder spoke calmly.

Satoshi's respect for his brother shot up another notch. He had been surprised and happy when his brother accepted the challenge and gave the other man time to prepare, but no one could beat his brother and Tamaki was going down. The fact that Mori was treating this as he would any other opponent and giving the Host Club president that much respect said a lot about the man his brother was and he could not be prouder to be related to him, "Ok, I will tell them you are coming." He walked out of the library to give his brother and Haruhi a moment.

"So you are ok with your parents coming?" Haruhi inquired. She wasn't worried just curious.

"Yes, they have been to most of my matches throughout my life. This one is no different even if it is against Tamaki."

Grinning, Haruhi leaned up to kiss him and whispered, "I love you."

"I love you too," he smiled and helped her to her feet escorting her to dinner.

The next day, both opponents showed up at the Ouran dojo for the competition. It was a Saturday and there was no school, and the match was set at 2:00 pm. They had roughly an hour to prepare themselves. Mori used this time to meditate, Tamaki used the time to shadow box. To Mori, it was just another kendo match, and to Tamaki, it was a fight to the death for the one he loved… a true duel.

Haruhi just wanted to know when Tamaki would get it through his thick skull that she loved and wanted to be with Mori and not him, but alas it didn't look like that would happen soon, and she seriously hoped getting hit with the shinai would help jar is brain into working properly. She sat with the Morinozuka and Haninozuka heads of family and waited for everything to start. The noise in the dojo was almost deafening at the girls screamed for their hosts and Haruhi just sighed. Some were yelling for Mori and some for Tamaki. There were also a few stragglers that would yell for the other hosts. It was like going to a rock concert in the female host's mind.

Soon both competitors made their way out onto the mat. It was easy to tell which one was Mori and which was Tamaki based on their heights. The blond idiot was so much shorter than the wild host; and as soon as they appeared, if it was possible, the noise level rose. While the two men got into position, Kyoya came to the center with a microphone, "Thank you ladies and gentlemen for coming to our little competition between hosts. If you will, while the competition is going on, be quiet and watch the match in front of you. The match will progress as a normal kendo match with a three point match, in other words, the first person to score 2 points wins the match. For those of you that don't know how kendo is scored, you can score with hits to the following areas: a hit to the top of sides of the men or head protector, hitting the padded area of the wrist protectors or kote, hitting the left or right side of the do or torso protector, and hitting the area of the men that protects the throat. One point is award for the hit and all three referees have to agree with the point. When the hit is made, the referee will raise the color flag of the competitor that made the point. Your competitors today are Tamaki Suoh, Host Club president, and Takashi Morinozuka, aka Mori and the wild host. We hope that you enjoy today's kendo match and we thank you for coming." Kyoya turned off the mic and walked off the mat in order to watch his best friend's utter defeat from the sidelines.

Mori and Tamaki bowed to the referees and then bowed to each other before getting into the fighting stance. Tamaki wanted to yell at Mori and tell him that he would not win, but that was grounds for forfeit and that is not what he wanted.

The referees got into position and the chief referee yelled, "Hajime!" The competition had begun.

Waiting patiently, Mori knew that it would not take long for Tamaki to attempt his first attack, and he was right. Less than a minute after the referee yelled, Tamaki screamed and started to swing his shinai wildly as he advanced on the older teen. Mori blocked each hit with deft precision time and time again. It seemed as if there was no thought to the blonde's attacks. They were haphazard at best and it was more like Tamaki was just trying to get in a hit anywhere he could, but Mori would not give him the satisfaction and kept blocking.

Jumping back from his rival, Tamaki looked for an opening and once again and screamed signaling his attack. Once again he swung without thought. He just needed to score a point, actually two points and he would win, but his first hit on Mori was a no point since he hit him on the upper arm and not on one of the specified areas. Then he swung from the side and caught the older man on his left side. All three referees awarded him the point.

"Point Suoh. Go back to starting positions," the chief ref stated.

Mori was impressed that Tamaki learned something over the last two months, but his skills were not up to par and he had much to learn. Now was the time to stop observing and it was time to attack. As soon as the ref yelled "Hajime", the taller man decided to show Tamaki what kendo was really about. Yelling as was the custom, Mori blocked Tamaki's willy nilly swinging and kept advancing, and when he saw an opening, he swung and hit Tamaki on the top of his head protector.

"Point Morinozuka. One point each. Go back to your starting positions," the ref declared above the noise. When it had died down again, he yelled, "Hajime!"

Tamaki couldn't lose. He refused to think that was even a possibility. He would not lose. It had been a lucky hit that awarded Mori the point; that was all it was. He screamed and started swinging again. He had to get a second point. He just had to… swinging his shinai, he just wanted to make contact with the other man, but Mori kept blocking him like it was nothing. Did the other man give him the first point? No, that wasn't possible because Tamaki was skilled at kendo and he won the point fairly. He would get the second point too!

Studying his opponent and waiting for the opportune time to strike his final blow, Mori wanted to smile. Tamaki was getting frustrated and his hits were becoming more sporadic, but the wild host had fought people like this before. The other problem with the shorter man, he didn't have the stamina to keep swinging the way he was. Mori could see the weakness starting to set in, and that was when he yelled and struck. Moving to the side quickly to avoid a blow from Tamaki's shinai, the taller man brought his shinai down and hit the blonde's wrist effectively knocking the sword out of the other man's hands and winning the final point of the match.

"Hantei! Point Morinozuka. Winner Morinozuka!" The chief ref declared and the crowd went wild. The other two refs joined him and he yelled, "Rei!" Mori and Tamaki bowed to them and then bowed to each other.

He had lost. Tamaki had actually lost at kendo against Mori. He had trained so hard and in the end, it was all for naught. Slumping to the ground, he watched as his rival walked up to Haruhi and pulled her into his arms and kissed her. That should have been him. He saw legs move into his line of sight and looked up to see his best friend standing there looking down at him.

"You lost Tamaki. It is time to let her go and be happy for her," Kyoya told him.

No! He wasn't going to let this happen. Tamaki wasn't done trying to win the fair maiden to his side. There was something in him that knew he and Haruhi were destined to be together, and before anyone could say anything, he was running across the dojo to where Mori and Haruhi were with the Morinozuka and Haninozuka parents. "I challenge you to judo!"

Frowning, Mori looked at his friend and set Haruhi back on her feet, "You lost. It's over."

"I am not ready to give up!" Tamaki bellowed.

"You should be because even if by some miracle you won today, I would still be with Takashi and I would be marrying him. See this ring, it means that I am engaged and with the man I want to be with!" Haruhi snarled her dark aura starting to make its way out of her.

Mori placed a hand on Haruhi's shoulder to calm her down and turned to Tamaki, "You lost. Give up."

"NO!" Tamaki cried, "I challenge you to judo! I will win the heart of Haruhi!"

Sighing, Mori looked behind him at his family and saw them nod. He had no choice in the matter and nodded, "Fine, but I am giving you another two months to actually learn the sport. Same rules apply."

"I WILL WIN THIS TIME! Kyoya you will be my second again!" Tamaki roared and turned to his best friend.

Pushing up his glasses, Kyoya shook his head and wondered yet again why he was friends with this moron, "Fine, I will do what I can to help." He turned to Mori's family and Haruhi and bowed, "I am sorry about this."

"It is not your fault, but at some point in time, he really does need to give up," Akira Morinozuka stated.

"We will have the competition in two months. Are you prepared to lose again?" Yorihisa Haninozuka asked.

"I will not lose because I have love on my side!" Tamaki exclaimed and raced towards the changing rooms.

Kyoya sighed, "I really am sorry."

"Not your fault Kyoya," Mori told him.

"I agree with Takashi, not your fault that he is a moron," Haruhi groused glaring towards the changing room Tamaki disappeared through.

"Tama-Chan just doesn't get it," Hunny muttered. He looked at everyone around him and he could see that everyone was amazed that Tamaki kept pushing this. He wasn't sure why himself, but Tamaki was never one that gave up easily… Still, Haruhi was happy with Mori; shouldn't their king just accept that?

**A/N: terms used and points awarded system are real for kendo competitions.**


	14. Leave Judo to the Experts

**A/N: Tamaki just doesn't give up. I know, I must be on something to not only allow Tamaki to challenge Mori at kendo, but now judo as well. I don't know what to say, but I like to torture him. LOL. You know you like it too. XD. So… now we are moving from kendo to judo, and yes the result will not change much, but since the scoring is different than kendo, we are guaranteed more hits. Counter is ready for the increase and we are prepared. I am prepared to put the counter through the ringer to truly test its capacity. Enjoy the chapter!**

**Also… on our counter… Should we include the hits Tamaki sustained when he was learning Kendo or not? **

**PS… for those following Revenge, the story has moved to CyraAngel and the second revenge chapter has been posted. The pairing this time is Mori/Haruhi. Go and check it out.**

Chapter 14 – Leave Judo to the Experts

Once again it had been up to Kyoya to get his best friend the best master of Judo he could find. Unfortunately the top rated ones were part of the Haninozuka family and they were not in support of Tamaki, but Hunny was able to arrange a teacher for the blond king: one that would be fair and teach the president of the Host Club as much as possible in the two month time frame given.

If Kyoya had his way about everything, the judo match would be nonexistent. Yes, he could sell tickets and gain a big profit, but it was tedious and he had to listen to two months of Tamaki spouting off how he would finally beat Mori. Everyone knew, well except the imbecile king, that defeating the wild host was an impossibility unless your name was Mitsukuni, and maybe Chika.

Throughout the two months, Tamaki took every opportunity he could in order to attempt to woo Haruhi. He knew it was against the rules, but he didn't care. He didn't think it was very fair that he had to stay away from her and Mori didn't; ergo, he shouldn't have to. On the days that Mori wasn't at Host Club, he would attempt to pay extra attention to Haruhi, but she always spurned him by throwing, hitting, or tripping him. A couple of times she even used a shinai on him, and he was convinced that she could hit just as hard as Satoshi and Mori could. Needless to say, Tamaki got to know the ceiling very well and Kyoya had started to keep the first aid kit at his table in the main room instead of in the kitchen. He had lost count how many times he faced death and survived (Kyoya would like us to know that Tamaki may have lost count, but Kyoya has not. Shadow King counted a record 19 toss, punches, and trips tallied together in addition to the two shinai hits from Haruhi, Chika, or Satoshi). It was as if Haruhi really didn't want to be touched by him, but that wasn't a possibility. Everyone loved him and all of the ladies wanted to be with him. He would convince her when he beat Mori at judo. Tamaki knew if he could beat the taller man at his own sport, Haruhi would come running towards him with love shining in her eyes and leave Mori behind holding nothing more than a ring.

Training was grueling and Tamaki didn't think a person's body was supposed to feel so tired and sore. He had bruises from head to toe and even suffered from a black eye at one point because he was not paying attention like he should. He kept telling himself that it would be worth it though as soon as Haruhi was in his arms. Two months of learning a combative sport and he was ready to deal Mori a death blow. This would not end like kendo had. Tamaki was sure he would win… for the sake of Haruhi, he had to win!

The day of the contest finally arrived. The chairman once again gave the Host Club the use of the Ouran dojo at a discounted fee. The even sold out and had a mix of female and male students there, with it seemed, the majority of the crowd cheering for the wild host.

"Kyoya," Tamaki spoke softly after they got to the changing room.

"Yes, Tamaki?" Kyoya prompted when his friend didn't continue. The thoughtful look on his face gave a small glimmer of hope that Tamaki had seen the error of his ways and would now let Haruhi go. His hopes were soon dashed.

Furrowing his brow, the blond tilted his head to the side and asked, "Why are they all chanting for Mori-senpai and not me? I am the person that will come out victorious."

The Shadow King tried to fight it, but was unable and in the next moment he face palmed. Taking in a deep breath and releasing it slowly, he forced himself to calm down before he answered his idiot friend, "Some of the people in the crowd are from the various martial arts clubs here at the school. They are more inclined to root for someone that is already part of one of those clubs. In addition, although smaller in number, Mori-senpai does have his own fans in the Host Club."

"You know what I predict Mon Ami?"

"Dare I ask?" The Shadow King sarcastically asked as he sighed.

"I predict that everyone will be chanting my name by the end of the match and Haruhi will be in my arms!" Tamaki proclaimed and started to let his inner mind theatre take off, but a hard slap to the back of the head by his best friend stopped his imagination from soaring, "What did you do that for?"

"You have a match in less than an hour. You need to focus and prepare," Kyoya instructed and to himself he said, _"Before you're handed your defeat."_

Slapping his second on his back, the blond beamed, "You're right as always! There will be time for victory celebrations later!"

In the other changing room, Hunny was sitting with his cousin, "Do you know what you are going to do?"

"Yah, I won't hit him as hard as I would normally," Mori spoke softly.

"He won't be as fast or as skilled as you, but because Tama-Chan is a little spastic, you need to be prepared for anything. Don't let your guard down."

Mori smiled and ruffled his cousin's hair, "I know."

"Ok Takashi. I will let you finish getting ready. I will go sit with Haru-Chan and our parents. I really can't believe he challenged you again," Hunny giggled as he left the dressing room to give his best friend some peace to meditate and prepare for the fight ahead. He had no worries about who would win this so called duel, but if a fighter let his guard down, it could mean unexpected outcomes; however, he knew no matter who won, Haruhi was only walking down the aisle to Mori.

When Hunny got to Haruhi's side, she smiled at her friend, "How is he?"

"He is fine. He is meditating now and will be ready to fight Tama-Chan when the time comes," Hunny responded.

Shuddering, the female host shook her head, "This shouldn't even be going on. It isn't like I have feelings for anyone but Takashi. I just wish Tamaki-senpai would get that through his thick skull. As it is, Takashi can do a lot more damage to his opponent that I can, do you think everyone will come out intact."

"Yah, Takashi said that he wouldn't hit as hard as when he and I spar, so it should be ok," the Loli Shota explained waving off that particular worry, but one worry remained… what would Tamaki do when he lost this time?

It was time for the match to begin. As the contestants made their way to the mat, everyone could see that Mori wore a blue sash with his obi (belt). He would be the blue contestant and Tamaki would be white.

The referee present had watched the kendo match and had wondered why the blond was competing like he was against someone so skilled, but it wasn't his place to argue. He looked at the competitors and instructed them, "Face me, bow." When they bowed to him, he instructed them, "Face each other, bow." Once the bows were complete, he gave them a moment to get in a fighting stance and yelled, "Hajime!"

Mori knew better than to just attack Tamaki because the contest would be over before it began, and he wanted to see what the other man had learned. If nothing else, his friend was learning new skills through his challenges of the various duels. He stepped back quickly to avoid Tamaki's arms and then the foot that tried to sweep him. The taller man had to give it to his younger friend, Tamaki wouldn't win today, but he wasn't totally inept.

Trying to grab Mori, Tamaki knew he had failed when the bigger man stepped back and then tried to trip him resulting in another fail. How was he supposed to get his point if he couldn't lay a hand on the bigger man? He tried again and was able to grasp Mori's arm, but then in the next moment he was sent to the ground landing on his side.

The referee brought his arm out slightly from his side and allowed it to be diagonal to the floor, "Morinozuka, yuko! Get in positions, Hajime!"

The round started again. Tamaki tried to again to trip the bigger man, but it was like trying to kick a brick wall, futile. He was grabbed again and thrown, this time landing on his other side.

"Morinozuka, yuko! Get in positions, Hajime!"

Another round and Tamaki was already feeling desperate. He needed to get a full or half of a point and he hadn't done that yet; what was worse was he believed that Mori was messing with him. Was the bigger man laughing at him? He would teach him what laughing at Tamaki Suoh would get you. Attacking his opponent, he threw himself at Mori and wrapped his arms around the taller man's middle and tried to throw him out of the ring. He failed.

Mori inwardly rolled his eyes and although he moved back a few steps after that last attack, he was still in the completion circle. He slapped Tamaki's arms forcing the blond to loosen his grip slightly and stop trying to push Mori out of bounds. Then he grabbed his friend's arms and used his foot to sweep Tamaki's feet out from under him thus throwing him to the mat.

The referee brought his arm so out so that it was straight to the side and horizontal, "Morinozuka, Waza-ari. Get in positions, Hajime!"

No, it couldn't be possible. Tamaki thought about it, Mori was now half a point away from winning this competition. Tamaki was frantic, he couldn't lose! The heart of Haruhi was on the line. He was convinced he heard her soul call out to him to win so that they could be together. He had to win!

Yelling and trying to throw Mori off balance in order to pin the bigger man to the mat, Tamaki lunged again and threw his whole weight onto Mori, but instead of pinning Mori, he fell face first into the mat when his opponent dodged his attack. The blond president saw feet and he looked up, it was the wild host holding out his hand to help him up.

The referee sweat dropped when he saw what Tamaki was going to do and wanted to warn him that it wouldn't work, but he couldn't and yelled "Matte!" when the blond hit the mat. After Mori helped the other competitor to his feet, the referee walked up to both of them and looked at Tamaki, "Are you alright?"

"Hai, we can continue," Tamaki grumbled.

"Get your nose checked first. There is a little bit of blood," the ref stated before telling the crowd, "Competition paused momentarily."

Tamaki rushed over to Kyoya and found a nurse waiting for him, "Is it really bleeding? Is it bad? What about my face?"

"I am sure the girls will love your battle scar, but it is nothing but a few drops of blood. You will live," Kyoya muttered attempting a reassuring voice, but not quite succeeding. He looked over to the mat where it looked like Mori was sitting and waiting in meditation for the competition to continue. He was always amazed at the control the bigger man had, and today proved it once again. The wild host could have taken Tamaki out at any time, but instead he allowed the blond to actually have a fight and showed the crowd a real competition, even if it was one sided.

Ten minutes later, Tamaki was back on the mat and the competition resumed when the ref yelled, "Hajime!"

Tamaki knew this was his last chance and went all out. He rushed to Mori and faked to the right before swinging to the left and attempting once again to trip his rival, but the other man jumped and Tamaki was unable to trip him. Instead he found himself on his back when Mori grabbed him and threw him to the mat where he proceeded to pin the Host Club king to the ground.

"Osaekomi!" The ref yelled as Mori pinned Tamaki to the mat. It was just a matter of time now. Technically the raven haired man only had to pin his competitor down for 20 seconds to get his second Waza-ari, but he would get an Ippon if Tamaki was pinned for 25 seconds.

Seconds ticked by and as much as Tamaki tried to fight him, the younger man was not budging and could not break the hold Mori had on him. He kept trying and he kept failing.

"Morinozuka, Ippon! Match to Morinozuka!" The referee yelled with his arm straight up in the air and saw Mori let the other man up and helped him once again to his feet.

Tamaki stood there with his head bowed in defeat. He had lost again. How did this keep happening to him? It wasn't fair. Watching as Mori made his way to the stands and lifted Haruhi into his arms to swing her around in celebration of victory, the princely host could only think was that was supposed to be him with the natural host in his arms… not the wild host.

Smiling, Mori hugged his fiancée and breathed a sigh of relief that everything was over now. It wasn't that Tamaki wasn't talented; it was just that the other man was picking things that were Mori's sports. "I love you," he whispered into Haruhi's ear.

"I love you too," Haruhi giggled and wrapped her arms around her fiancé's neck.

"Good job son," Akira congratulated his son proud of Mori's achievements and how he had conducted himself today.

Kyoya saw his distraught friend in the middle of the mat still staring at the happy couple and walked up to him. Placing and hand on the blonde's shoulder, he asked, "Do you understand now? He loves her, she loves him, and they are happy."

Something snapped inside Tamaki. No, apparently fighting the other man at his own sports wasn't the answer, so now it was time to challenge him at something else. Stomping up to Mori and Haruhi, he narrowed his eyes, "I challenge you to a triathlon!"

"Really? Do you even know what that is Tamaki-senpai?" Haruhi glared. She was tired of all of this competition for her hand because she was with the one person she wanted to be with. "This is stupid! I am with Takashi and that is the only man I will ever be with. Get this through your thick stupid skull senpai... I don't have feelings for you like that!"

"You will if I win!" Tamaki declared with a pout.

Sighing, Mori pinched the bridge of his nose, "Fine, just name the time and place, but if you lose this, it's over."

"Agreed! It will happen in three weeks. I need to get with Kyoya to arrange it all and we will be in touch," Tamaki snapped before trying to hug Haruhi, but he found himself on the ground again.

Haruhi was fuming, "Don't touch me, don't even look at me."

"Haruhi, you are supposed to hug your daddy!" Tamaki whined as he pulled himself up off of the ground.

"You are not my father, and if you keep all of this up, you will not be a friend," she seethed as she stormed off leaving everyone staring after her.

Satoshi heard his brother sigh and smiled, "Don't worry Taka. Yasuchika and I will go after her. You go get changed." He watched his brother nod and walk off before he dragged his cousin out of the dojo, "Come on, let's go find Haruhi-senpai."

"Do we really want to find her when she is mad?" Chika questioned the sanity of such a plan.

"Yep, because if we don't Taka will worry." It didn't take them long before they found her sitting on the edge of one of the fountains.

Haruhi looked up when she heard someone approaching, "Who sent you to find me?"

Smiling, Satoshi answered, "No one, but we figured you might need a friend and we knew Taka would be concerned."

Rubbing her hands over her face, Haruhi growled before lowering them and sighing, "I just don't get it. I am with Takashi, we are engaged, he keeps winning, and still Tamaki-senpai won't let it go… maybe he as a clot in his brain that prevents him from thinking."

"That wouldn't surprise me at all," Chika grumbled. Looking at the girl sitting in front of him, he asked, "You ok?"

"I am just mad that it keeps progressing the way it does. I will be alright though," she replied.

Satoshi sat down next to his future sister-in-law, "I think you need a stress reliever… we could go burn Tamaki-senpai's cherished throne if you want."

The thought of doing that alone was enough to cause Haruhi to snicker, "No, I don't think arson is on the agenda today, but catch me tomorrow."

"You want to go back?" Chika inquired.

"Can we just wait for your brother and others here? I would really like to not run into Tamaki right now because if I did, I will not be responsible for my actions," Haruhi muttered.

Chuckling, Chika nodded, "Duly noted. We will stay here, but I wouldn't mind seeing you against Tamaki-senpai again."

Within a few minutes of Satoshi sending a text to Mori with their location, the eldest Morinozuka son arrived on the scene and pulled Haruhi into his arms, "Sorry."

"Not your fault. It is Tamaki's. Just do me a favor…" Haruhi smiled sweetly, but there was a glint in her eye.

Returning her grin, Mori could figure what she was about to say, but asked anyway, "What is that?"

"Crush him!" Haruhi declared before laughing and giving her fiancé a very deserving kiss. Three more weeks and finally everything would be brought to its final end.

**A/N: The goal of judo competition is to get your competitor to the mat either by throwing, tripping, pinning, etc. Points are given based on how effective it was. If you used full force and control and threw the other person to the mat and he/she landed on his/her back you are awarded an ippon (full point) and the match is over. You can also get an ippon by pinning the opponent to the mat for 25 seconds. If the pin is less than 25 seconds but at least 20 seconds, or the throw was not full control/force causing the other person to land mostly on the back but not fully, the person scores a waza-ari (half point). You need two of these to win if you do not get ippon. The third score is called a yuko and only come into play if the match ends in a tie at the end of allotted time. If the opponent lands on his/her side, or if the opponent pinned for less than 20 seconds but more than 15 seconds. Penalties can also lead to the opponent scoring. **


	15. Seconds or Partners?

**A/N: Tamaki just doesn't know when to quit, but let's face it… this story is kind of about how many hits he can take. LOL. Ok, it is about more than that, but that is part of it. Everyone wants to see Haruhi take Tamaki down in her own "death match", I mean duel, so that will be coming up… really soon. Enjoy the new chapter. **

**MTRC: Tamaki - 59, Hikaru - 3, Kaoru - 2 (This is as of last chapter). We will not be including the hits from the kendo lessons.**

**PS… don't forget that Revenge has moved to CyraAngel. **

Chapter 15 – Seconds or Partners?

It had only been one week since the judo match and already Haruhi was ready to murder a certain blond. He kept spouting nonsense about how he let Mori win the first two competitions, but he would win the final competition and thus win the heart of Haruhi Fujioka. She thought he was completely mental.

The weekend after the competition, he tried to show up at her house on Saturday and she threw him over the railing, but lucky for him there was actually an open dumpster there that day. There never was before or since. Haruhi didn't want to talk to him and she thought she was making herself perfectly clear, but it wasn't getting through to him and she wasn't sure what it would take. Instead of dealing with him though, her father was staying with a friend and she decided to stay with her fiancé at his family's home. She knew Mori's parents wouldn't mind and honestly, if Tamaki showed up one more time, she was going to take a shinai to his head.

The next day, Tamaki and Kyoya arrived at Mori's house to discuss the competition. The blond not realizing that his precious Haruhi was staying there, went a little crazy when he saw her and pulled her into his arms in a very tight embrace. The female host was so afraid of breaking something in the living room, she did not try to throw him, but she did send her fiancé a pleading look. However, before Mori could do anything, Satoshi and Chika took it upon themselves to appear out of nowhere and rescue the damsel in distress. Careful, as not to hit the hostage, Satoshi aimed and hit Tamaki on the side of the head with his shinai. Then Chika gave a well-placed kick to the back of the leg and Tamaki dropped Haruhi allowing Mori to catch her and pull her to safety.

"You came here to talk to my brother, not destroy my house. If you cannot behave, I believe I have every right to ask you to leave," Satoshi declared.

"Ask me to…?" Tamaki tilted his head to the side before he got back to his feet and limped over to his best friend and pointing behind him frantically, "MOMMY DID YOU SEE WHAT THEY DID TO ME?"

Pushing his glasses up his face and giving his friend his host smile, Kyoya answered, "I do believe he is right. We are not barbarians. We are gentleman and I suggest you start acting like one."

Tamaki's jaw dropped to the floor and it appeared as if his soul was going to be floating out of his body soon when Chika sneered, "This is a no soul leaving the body zone. If you cannot adhere to that rule, leave."

Haruhi was having a hard time keeping a straight face right now with the way Satoshi, Kyoya, and Chika were tag teaming the blond president. Who knew Kyoya could work so well with the other two, but decided it must be a younger brother sort of telepathy since the vice president was also the youngest son and baby in his family.

"MOMMY?" Tamaki wailed.

"What Tamaki? This is not my house. I cannot force rules on them or allow you to disobey. Their house, their rules and you must follow them. Please remember we are in polite society and should act accordingly. When you are invited to a barn dance, you are allowed to act like livestock. Until then, behave," Kyoya instructed his lenses flashing.

Unable to hold it in any longer, Haruhi started to laugh. Tears were forming in her eyes and she was clutching her side. Hunny thought it was amusing and joined her in her merriment. Mori smiled unable to keep a straight face or glare directed at the Host Club prince; instead he directed his gaze to his fiancée and chuckled.

"Haruhi, why are you laughing? They are abusing daddy!" Tamaki pouted.

That sobered her up and her mirth turned to a frown, "They are not doing anything you don't deserve. If you cannot behave, then leave. You are not my father and as of right now, I really don't want to have anything to do with you! I am engaged to Takashi and no matter what you do or try, that will never change. I could never love you, will never love you, don't want you, and COULD NEVER HAVE FEELINGS FOR YOU IN THIS OR THE NEXT LIFETIME!" Rant over, she looked behind her and her features softened, but she still growled, "I am going to my room."

"Is she staying here?" Tamaki yelled.

Narrowing his eyes on the younger man, Mori took a step forward, "She is staying here right now because you decided to bother her yesterday and she has a test on Monday that she has to study for. You don't love her. You can't because if you did, you would be thinking of her wants and needs before your own. You don't care about anyone but yourself and that is truly pathetic."

"But I do!" Tamaki defended.

Mori shook his head, "No you don't. Tell me what you want and then you need to get out of here. I have a match scheduled with my brother and that is more important than your stupid delusions."

Tamaki tried not to look defeated, but it was really difficult considering the fact that he was just yelled at by Haruhi and talked down to by Mori… Mori of all people. "I, I wanted to say that if you wanted to, we can make this a team competition: me and Kyoya against you and Hunny-senpai."

Glancing down at his shorter cousin, Mori could see that Hunny was ready to beat someone to a pulp, "Why would we do that?"

"We will split the competition up between us," Tamaki stated meekly.

"There are only three competitions, it doesn't make sense… unless you think you can't do it all," Mori lifted in eyebrow in silent question.

That ruffled Tamaki's feathers and he snapped, "I can do it all and more!" Taking in a deep breath and attempting to calm down, he continued, "We have our seconds to the middle part of the competition. So, it will be a tag team. We swim, they ride, and we run."

Tilting his head in question, Hunny asked, "Kyo-Chan, you agreed to this?" He couldn't believe the vice president would do that because although he was the president's second and best friend, Kyoya really didn't agree with the reason for the competition… even if it was bringing in extra funds into the club.

Kyoya sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Not really." Honestly, he only knew that Tamaki had wanted to talk to Mori about the competition. He thought his best friend had finally come to his senses, but it appeared he was still as crazy and moronic as ever.

"It doesn't look like your second wants to, so the competition stays between us. Please leave," Mori stated and escorted the leaders of the Host Club to the door.

Back in the limo, Tamaki was seated across from Kyoya and throwing a tantrum, "Mommy, why didn't you support me. You are supposed to be my best friend and my second."

Scowling, Kyoya felt like he was talking to a five year-old sometimes, "Tamaki let me explain something and you need to listen. I don't agree with this. I don't like it and I think you are going to cause a rift in the club. When that happens, everyone… and I mean everyone will choose Mori and Haruhi. **No one**, I repeat **no one **will be on your side. I might be your second, but that is only because we are best friends. You are acting like a rich spoiled brat that didn't get the toy he wanted. Haruhi is with Mori and loves him. You can either keep pursuing this crazy fantasy and find yourself alone, or you can stop now. I will not participate in your childish competition, so you can forget that. You want to challenge Mori? You can do all three areas on your own."

Tamaki knew there was only one card he could play at a time like this… puppy dog eyes. No club member has been able to resist yet and that included his best friend. Looking at his lap and then peering up at Kyoya, his face was even more pathetic than the time they faced the newspaper club together. Of course, it didn't work when the Shadow King was reading the Sunday paper. Whimpering like a puppy, Tamaki thought that it would get the other teens attention, but the only thing he got was the rustling of the paper. He tried again.

"Tamaki, I suggest you wipe that look off your face. It won't work on me this time," Kyoya announced. It wouldn't work because he was not going to look. He refused to peer at his friend and give into the blonde's childish tendencies.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. Moving quickly, Tamaki grabbed the paper and shoved his face in Kyoya and looked at him from below just as he taught Haruhi to do at one time. With a small whimper and a lone tear escaping out of the corner of his left eye, the Host Club king silently begged his best friend to help.

Kyoya could feel himself caving. He hated that look with a passion and if he ever became ruler of the world (which he felt he could achieve eventually), it would be outlawed, but for now, he could do nothing about it. (Maybe he could write it in the club's bylaws). Releasing a pent up breath, Kyoya pushed his friend away from him, "Sit down in the seat you idiot before your injured. If you are dead set in the seconds participating, I will talk to Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai tomorrow. We will take the second wave."

"Oh thank you mommy!" Tamaki exclaimed and attempted to glomp his friend while in a moving car. He was thrown to the floor.

Knowing he was going to regret his decision, Kyoya didn't say anything else to his best friend except one last thing when he was dropped off at his house, "You are not coming in Tamaki. I have work to do and I have dealt with enough of your moronic ways today. Good day." He left the blond president gaping at him and slammed the door in his face.

When the Shadow King was once again safely ensconced in his room, he pulled out his phone to call Hunny. He didn't think Mori would answer since he said he was going to spar with his brother. It didn't take long before the short blond was answering, "What up Kyo-Chan?"

"I want to apologize for today," Kyoya began. He wasn't exactly sure how to explain the latest development.

"It's no problem. We know Tama-Chan is obsessed, although it is kind of unhealthy. Do you think we can get him checked out by one of your doctors?"

Kyoya had been asking himself that same question lately and grumbled, "I think we may need to do that."

Giggling, Hunny continued, "What did you need Kyo-Chan? I know it wasn't only to apologize."

"You know me too well Hunny-senpai."

"He got to you, didn't he?"

"He did. If you agree to it, you and I will be doing the biking portion of the competition."

"Does Tamaki not understand that he will never win? Even if Takashi loses in athletics, which will never happen, Tamaki doesn't have a chance with her."

"I really don't know Hunny-senpai," Kyoya muttered and ran his hand through his hair.

Hunny shook his head, "You have to try to talk to him, or maybe I can, but he has crossed the line."

"I have tried to talk to him and I am not even sure why he thinks he has a chance. As far as I know, even his father told him last year to let her go when Tamaki told him about the relationship with Mori-senpai." Silence greeted the raven haired teen at that proclamation.

After a minute of silence, Hunny told his friend, "I will come to the high school tomorrow and we will talk to him together. Will club be in session?"

"It will, but I can cancel it if we need to," Kyoya offered. Normally he wouldn't, but something needed to be done.

"No, go ahead with club. I will be late, but I will be there for the second half of club time. I am not sure about Haru-Chan. She is rather upset right now and I don't blame her, so if she doesn't come…"

"I understand and I wouldn't blame her right now."

"I will see you tomorrow Kyo-Chan. The cook just came in with my cake!" Hunny stated and hung up the line. He wasn't sure if there was anything they could do short of calling the psych ward, but he would try for the sake of all of their friends. He just hoped that Tamaki listened for a change.

Kyoya looked at his phone and put it down. If he knew his shorter senpai, Hunny had something up his sleeves, but the Shadow King wouldn't know what it was until tomorrow. He just prayed it worked.


	16. Interference

**A/N: What do Hunny and Kyoya have up their sleeves? When Demon #1 and Demon #2 of the Host Club plot together, it cannot end well for Tamaki… because let's face it, he will be the one being punished. What about the 3****rd**** Demon of the club? Will she get into the action? Well, yes she will because you asked for it. Enjoy!**

Chapter 16 – Interference

Haruhi looked out the window of the car she was sitting in staring at the passing scenery. Chika and Satoshi had tried to engage her in conversation, but it had not worked. She just wasn't up for talking. Something had to be done about Tamaki because this was past the point of ridiculous. How many times did the idiot have to be beaten before he would accept the fact that she would never belong to him? Hell, she wasn't even a possession. She was a woman with feelings and thoughts of her own and if he couldn't accept that, then she didn't really want to associate with him any longer.

Thinking about the conversation she had with Hunny the previous day, she wondered if his plan was even going to work. Tamaki had been soundly beaten in kendo and judo and hadn't learned, what made Hunny think he would fare any better? Snorting a bit, Haruhi bit back her laughter… Hunny could be very convincing when he wanted to be.

She sighed again, it was days like today that she wished Mori was at her side. Even if they weren't in the same class, knowing that he was in the same building gave her a level of peace she had been struggling to regain since he had graduated. Those thoughts made her think of the whole debacle at Mori and Hunny's graduation party and her unintended reveal… another one of Tamaki's idiocies. Was he ever going to leave them in peace? Fisting her hands at her sides, she made a decision: he would if he knew what was good for him.

The day she had first stepped foot inside the music room, she had known that her life was going to be forever changed. Firstly, she wasn't expecting to meet six of the most popular guys in school. Secondly, she had never expected to find love. If anything, meeting them made her want to run for cover, and if Tamaki had not been chasing her that day, the vase may have never been broken, but then she might not have Mori right now.

As the car pulled up to Ouran, Satoshi got out of the car and then Chika. Haruhi was going to follow, but she was pulled out on the other side of the car with a hand covering her mouth. Sending an elbow into the assailant's gut, Haruhi next stepped back grabbed the arm around her and threw the person overhead. She let go and was immediately in an attack stance, "Tamaki?!" The blond was lying on his back on the ground with his eyes spinning.

Satoshi and Chika heard the commotion and watched as Haruhi used her skills yet again on the president of the host club. Shaking his head, Chika asked, "How many times is this now?"

"Just her or with everyone?" Satoshi grumbled.

"I have counted over sixty times if you include the matches with Mori-senpai, but that doesn't include the training sessions. If you want to include those, it is closer to 200," Kyoya smiled and adjusted his glasses as he walked up to the small group (thanks to our official counter and mtnikolle).

"Baka!" The young cousins exclaimed at the same time.

Walking up to his best friend, Kyoya kicked him in the side, "Time to get up and got to class Tamaki. Stop being an idiot. You should have known what would happen if you tried to grab her."

Tamaki groaned and sat up shaking his head to clear the cobwebs (a feat in and of itself, I'm telling you), "I just wanted to talk to her!" Getting up off of the ground, Tamaki looked at Haruhi, "We never spend time together any more. Daddies and daughters are supposed to spend time together. How am I supposed to woo you if we don't any time alone?" He took a step forward and was stopped by a shinai pointed at his chest, but it wasn't Satoshi wielding it… it was someone else, "Haruhi?"

"I am not going to spend time with you alone. That would be disrespectful to my fiancé. You know that word, don't you? It is French and means that I am betrothed to someone else. Someone I happen to love and someone you are trying to stab in the back. You say you want us to remain a family, but you don't care about us. You only care about yourself. Let me put it in words that you might understand… daughter is marrying the neighbor and nothing you do will change that," Haruhi snarled and threw the shinai to her future brother-in-law walking the long way around the line of cars in order to get as far away from Tamaki as possible with Satoshi and Chika following her and grinning proud of her for what she just did.

"Mommy? What just…? Why did…?" Tamaki was stunned.

Pushing up his glasses, Kyoya rolled his eyes, "I warned you and so did everyone else. She loves Mori-senpai and you are hurting her by what you are doing. The sooner you accept things, the better." He grabbed his best friend's arm and started to drag him towards the school building.

As Haruhi, Satoshi, and Chika came to the juncture in the hall way where they would split ways, Haruhi turned down a different hall and Satoshi called after her, "Haruhi-senpai, where are you going?"

"Oh, I thought I would pop in to see Uncle Yuzuru," she smiled sweetly causing both of her friends to chuckle and shake their heads.

If Haruhi was going to pay a visit to the chairman, that meant that Tamaki may find himself in a heap of trouble very soon. Although the Yuzuru Suoh had been supporting the matches his son had been fighting in, he had not taken any steps to stop anything believing that his son would wise up on his own. If neither of the Suoh men was going to take responsibility, Haruhi was going to force one of them to do something. Satoshi and Chika both wished they could be a fly on the wall for that meeting.

Walking up to the chairman's secretary, Haruhi gave her the best host smile she could muster, "Hi, I was wondering if the chairman had a moment to spare for me." She sounded as sickly sweet as one of Hunny's cakes.

"Haruhi Fujioka?" The woman questioned when she saw who was standing in front of her. Everyone in the school, staff included, knew who all of the hosts in the Host Club were, and the girl in front of her was especially infamous. Add into the fact that the chairman had taken a special interest in her, and she was practically guaranteed a meeting anytime she wanted it.

"Yes, ma'am."

"I do believe he has time this morning. Just a moment," the secretary picked up her phone and dialed a couple of numbers before talking into the handset. It was less than a minute later that she was hanging up with a smile, "Go on in dear."

"Thank you," Haruhi grinned wider and walked into the chairman's office. Smile remaining intact, she swallowed before she bowed and said, "Chairman…"

"Oh Haruhi, how many times have I told you, call me uncle," the head of Ouran chastised her.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Yuzuru. I was hoping you had a moment to talk this morning," Haruhi started.

Gesturing for her to sit in a chair opposite his desk, he grinned, "Of course, but aren't you going to be late for class?"

"I am sure sensei will understand and if not, I am not going to club today so it will be fine."

"I will be sure to get you an excuse so that you don't have to worry about it. Now what can I do for you my dear?"

Now that she was there, Haruhi was a little unsure how to tell him to tell his son to back off, "Well, this is about Tamaki-senpai and his competitions. I have tried to tell him, Takashi has tried to tell him, and I know almost everyone else has tried to tell him, but he is not listening. I came to see if you could talk to him. There is no way I would ever even contemplate leaving Takashi for anyone, especially him. I love my fiancé and am planning on marrying him… no one else. However, Tamaki-senpai…"

"Is still trying to win you over and bring you over to his side?"

"Exactly."

Sighing, Yuzuru glanced down at the pictures he had on his desk, "When he first found out about you and Morinozuka-san, he was quite devastated and he realized that what he felt for you was more than just a mere friend. I talked to him and it seemed as if he was going to step back and allow you two to be together and happy. I am not sure what got into him now, but he is determined to win you for himself."

"That is the thing sir. Even if by some miracle he is able to win, I would never be with him."

"I know you wouldn't. I had hoped that he would come to the same conclusion on his own."

"But he hasn't, and he keeps adding competitions even when he loses. He is no longer in the spirit of fair play, and I think he will keep up with these silly notions until he finds something he can beat Takashi at. This morning, he pulled me from the car like it was a kidnapping. I wasn't sure who it was and threw him to the ground."

Yuzuru chuckled, "I see. Yes, I agree he has gotten a bit out of hand."

_"A bit? I think he surpassed that milestone a long time ago,"_ Haruhi thought to herself. Plastering on her smile again, she pushed again for his interference with his son, "Anything you can do I am sure would help immensely."

Standing up and walking to the other side of his desk, he took Haruhi's hand in his and kissed the back of it, "I am at your service and will do what I can for you."

"Thank you ch… I mean Uncle Yuzuru. Well, I guess I better be getting back to class now."

The chairman nodded and released Haruhi's hand to scribble something on a piece of paper. Handing it to her, he grabbed her hand again, "If there is anything else you need, please do not hesitate to ask. I will do all I can for you. Now this should help you get back into class without any trouble from your instructor."

Beaming on the outside, Haruhi really wanted to cringe. Tamaki and the chairman were so much alike it was scary sometimes. She pulled her hand away, "Thank you Uncle. I will talk to you later." She was finally able to leave the office and head to class. Hopefully the father would talk to the son, and everything would be fine. She harrumphed once she was in the hall on the way to class… who was she kidding? This was Tamaki, not the most rational host in the group.

Haruhi had sent a text message to Mori, Hunny, Satoshi, Chika, and Kyoya stating that she would not be in Host Club that day when she was about halfway back to class. She really wasn't up to see Tamaki and she had some things to take care of that afternoon such as tea with Hunny and Mori's mothers. Granted it was a spur of the moment decision, however it was better than dealing with a certain club president at the moment.

Kyoya had been anticipating Haruhi's absence from club activities that day and had already planned for it. He was a little peeved at his best friend for adding to Haruhi's stress and therefore being the main reason she was skipping which decreased profits. Hoping his shorter senpai had something up his sleeve, the Shadow King tried to make it through the rest of his school day without giving into the urge to kill a certain princely type host… it was difficult, but he succeeded.

True to his word, Hunny arrived just as Host Club hit the halfway mark. He noticed that Tamaki kept looking over at Haruhi's normal area. Chika and Satoshi were talking to some girls in a section as far away from his old section as possible, probably to get away from the cakes stacked there. Kyoya was entertaining not only his normal customers, but some of Haruhi's as well; and the twins were… well, being themselves pulling pranks and doing their whole twincest act. It was a normal day in the club if you could get over that Mori and he had graduated and Haruhi was missing.

Upon hearing the doors of the club room open and shut, a few people turned around to see who the new visitor could be. When seeing it was the loli shota host, one of the girls shouted, "Hunny!" This caused the majority of the girls in the room to lose focus on the host they were sitting with and stampede over to the newest occupant of the room. They were excited to see him on a day he normally wasn't there and wanted to show him how much they loved and missed him.

"Where's Mori?" "Did Mori come with you?" "Oh Hunny, we are so glad you're here!" "I still love you Hunny!" These were just some of the things that were shouted, each declaration getting louder and louder to be heard over the hubbub. Soon it became a deafening roar.

Hunny took the attention all in stride. He hugged Usa-Chan a little tighter causing all of the girls to squeal in delight, and he addressed everyone, "Thank you for the welcome ladies. I missed you too. I just had to come by and see everyone. Takashi couldn't come with me though, so I am all alone." A small pout could be seen on his face and the girls decreed they would make sure to take care of him. This seemed to perk the graduated host up and he grinned, "Thanks princesses!"

"You are always welcome Hunny-senpai! It is good to see you again," Tamaki smiled a little confused as to why the shorter blond would visit without his cousin and on a day he wasn't normally scheduled for, but figured it was probably because he didn't have anything else to do.

Narrowing his eyes ever so slightly, Hunny continued to smile, but it turned a bit malicious if anyone was truly paying attention… and of course someone was. Kyoya approached the crowd and told them all, "Hunny-senpai will be visiting the remainder of the afternoon. Hunny, your normal table is ready and I ordered your favorite cakes."

"Thanks Kyo-Chan! Who wants cake?" Hunny yelled before making his way to his table with a crowd of ladies following him.

"You knew he was coming?" Tamaki inquired staring after the bunny loving host.

Kyoya pushed up his glasses, "He told me that he might try to come by since Mori and Haruhi were busy this afternoon." He really didn't know if the two were together, but it made sense that they would be and it would emphasize the point that Haruhi had made her decision.

An arrow shot into Tamaki forcing him backwards a bit. When the twins joined in the teasing, the arrows got sharper and more frequent, "Yah, we also heard about what she did to you this morning. Daughter chose the neighbor. How many kids do you think they will have?" And this continued until you could see more arrows than a body lying on the ground twitching every once in a while. Hikaru and Kaoru thought it was great and started dancing around the body of their king. Chika and Satoshi got a laugh out of the show, thought Tamaki was a moron and returned to the few girls that had chosen them over Chika's brother.

Rolling his eyes, Kyoya grumbled under his breath (of course he would deny it later because he is an Ootori and Ootori's do not grumble), "That idiot, but then again, if he didn't act like that, I would wonder if he really was Tamaki. It is one of the things that make him unique. I just wish he would get over this obsession with Haruhi." He returned to his table alone since his customers joined the club's impromptu host and started working on his computer.

The rest of the club time seemed to pass by too quickly for the ladies because soon they were being (almost forcibly) ushered out by the hosts. Hunny promised them to visit again soon and this time he would be sure to bring Mori to the girls' high pitched squeals and joy.

Once the girls were gone and the other hosts could focus, well Tamaki and the twins since the two first year hosts left as soon as they could, they crowded around the short blond (although he was taller than Haruhi now), and Hikaru asked, "So what brought you here today senpai?"

Kaoru inquired, "Did you hear about the boss's little mishap this morning too?" This caused both twins to laugh hysterically especially when the victim in question started to sputter and turn a bright red.

"I WAS JUS TRYING TO SPEND TIME WITH MY DAUGHTER! You evil twins see her all of the time in school; it is only fair that I see her too!" Tamaki wailed.

"Even against her will?" Hunny questioned his voice dripping with honey.

"Yes, even… hey wait a second. NO!" Tamaki bellowed.

"Tamaki, you have dinner plans with your father. If you don't leave now, you will be late," Kyoya stated as he joined the small group.

Tamaki stopped and looked at the time, "Oh no! Thanks Mon Ami!" He ran out the door without another word and the twins followed to try to get in some last minute teasing.

Sitting down in a vacant chair, Kyoya turned to the only host left, "So what is your plan senpai?"

"It is simple really. Tama-Chan is trying to win Haru-Chan from Takashi, so let Haru-Chan teach him that she will not be willing to go by fighting him herself," Hunny explained taking another bite of cake.

"So you want to arrange another fight, but this time between Haruhi and Tamaki?"

Shaking his head, Hunny announced, "She will be taking my place in the triathlon."

Kyoya didn't know if that was a good idea, "I know she has been training senpai, but is she up for something like that?"

"I don't know, but Tama-Chan believes he is only fighting Takashi. This will show that they are in it together and he is fighting them both. It might make a difference and finally click."

Chuckling, the Shadow King nodded, "It is simple, but it might work." They spent another thirty minutes discussing the details before they left for their respective homes with a plan in place.

Across town in a nice restaurant, a father and son arrived and were ready to be seated. Tamaki had been a little surprised by the spontaneous dinner invitation he had received earlier in the day, but he knew better than to decline. Still he was curious about what prompted his father to want to dine with him on a day he normally worked late. Once they were seated, he voiced his bewilderment, "Father, was there a reason you wanted to have dinner?"

"Can't a father have dinner with his son?" Yuzuru inquired with a smile.

"Well… yes, but normally you work late on Mondays."

Nodding, the chairman studied his son for a moment before he started, "That is true. Part of it is because I wanted to have dinner with you, but I also wanted to talk to you about Haruhi."

"Haruhi? What about her?"

"She came to see me today. She is quite put out with everything you have been doing to break her and Morinozuka-kun up. I thought last year you had decided to be happy for her, what happened?"

Tamaki sat there for a while not saying anything. The waiter had long come and went getting their orders and bringing their drinks. Eventually he started to speak softly, "I realized I loved her and I needed to at least give myself a chance. If I didn't then I might regret it for the rest of my life and she would be the one that got away."

The patriarch knew exactly what his son was talking about and could empathize with him. He knew that feeling well and it wasn't something he wanted his son to go through, but life had a way of putting challenges for people to overcome, "I know son, but don't you think you have done everything possible? She still wants to be with Morinozuka."

Pausing as the waiter delivered their food, Tamaki shook his head, "This last one will be enough. Don't they say third times the charm? I just… I just want to know I did everything I could to win her so that I can say I fought hard and it was ok that I lost."

"But what if it is making her sad and breaking her heart that you won't let her be happy with the man she chose?" Yuzuru could see that he struck a nerve and sighed, "Just think about it Tamaki. There are many things in life that we must face that we will not like. I have made my fair share of mistakes with you and your mom, and I want you to be happy, but sometimes you have to be the bigger person and take a step back for the person you love to shine. I know it hurts and you probably won't believe me, but there is someone else out there for you that you will love harder, longer, and with more depth than you ever thought about with Haruhi. That is what I want for you."

They ate the rest of their meal in silence, both men thinking about the words hanging between them. Tamaki had carved out a new family for himself in the Host Club. He had also found his first real love. Yuzuru had found the love of his life and because of illness they were separated. He had many regrets in his life, but when he looked at his son, he knew that loving Sophia was not one of them. Tamaki was the embodiment of everything good in both parents: the dreams, love, hope, and desire. The father hoped that one day soon Tamaki would find that one woman that would surpass Haruhi because he knew until then, all girls would be compared to her. He also prayed his son took what he said tonight and really thought about it because when you really loved something, it was better to let them be free to live their own life whether they choose you or someone else.


	17. Love, Life, and Blacksmiths

**A/N: Our MTRC is now at 63 for Tamaki not including the times he was hit or thrown while learning a new sport (I would like to remind everyone that at the end of Haruhi's Bitter Days, Tamaki's count ended at 117 unofficially and officially it was 77 – I gravitate more to the 117). Hikaru has 3 and Kaoru has 2. Let's see what happens next. Hunny has decided that Haruhi will be Mori's second in the hopes that Tamaki will realize what he is doing and back off. Haruhi even went to the chairman to ask for help and Yuzuru has talked to his son… did it sink in though? We will see. Honestly, with as many times as he's been thrown, hit, beaten, tripped, etc… you would think something would have been beaten into him. LOL. Enjoy the new chapter.**

Chapter 17 – Love, Life, and Blacksmiths

Mori was sitting outside and looking up at the stars. There was only one more week until the latest competition in which Tamaki was subjecting him to actually commenced and the other man had yet to back down. He knew for a fact that Haruhi had talked to the chairman who in turn talked to Tamaki a week ago, but nothing had changed. The Host Club president was still gung ho about having this triathlon, and Haruhi was still having to fight off the overly eager blond. In fact, she has had to throw, kick, trip, or punch him six times in the last week. It was ridiculous. Sighing, Mori knew that was just part of who Tamaki was, but where should the line be drawn this time.

As his thoughts turned to the upcoming competition, he wondered if Hunny's plan was going to work. They were keeping the little bit of news that Haruhi was going to compete instead until the day of the competition hoping that when he saw who he was really fighting against, it would shock Tamaki out of all of these ridiculous notions of competing for her hand, but Mori honestly didn't know if it would work. He wasn't afraid of losing Haruhi, however, he was beginning to see the effects of these competitions had on the Host Club. These people were his closest friends, and the last thing he wanted was a wedge to come between them.

"Something wrong Takashi?" Akira stood next to his son's sitting form and from the look on Mori's face, the teen had no idea when his father had arrived. Chuckling, he asked, "Aren't you the one that always tells your brother that he needs to be aware and not distracted?"

His father was right... he had been caught unaware. Mori sighed, "I am."

Settling himself down next to his eldest son, Akira studied the face of the man his child had become. He could remember holding him as a babe and rocking him to sleep. He chased away monsters when Mori was two and told him that everything would get better when he got his first broken heart. Now his son was engaged to be married and had grown into a man seemingly overnight. Where had time gone? It felt as if he blinked and both of his sons stood on the precipice of manhood. "Do you want to talk about it?" The patriarch inquired knowing his son never had a problem talking to him about important things.

"Tamaki isn't giving up," Mori shook his head and felt the frustration boiling inside of him.

"I heard that the competition had changed and Mitsukuni is no longer participating," Akira commented.

Mori threw a rock he had been holding in his hand, "No, Haruhi will be competing in his place."

"Are you worried about her taking part in something like this?"

"No, she has come a long way in her training and she will be alright. She might not be the fastest, but she will be fine."

"You are worried that if he loses this round, Tamaki will come up with something else?"

"No, but I am afraid that the Host Club will not be the same."

Nodding his understanding, Akira stated, "Changes are bound to happen regardless of what happens at the end of the day. All of you are growing up and graduating. Some are finding love and planning to get married. Others are working to take over their family business when they are not the true heir."

"I know that with time passing change is inevitable, but I can already see the fissures that have started to form because of this."

"Would you do anything differently? Would you let Haruhi go?"

Mori paused for a moment before answering, "No, I love her. The Host Club helped to draw me out of my shell. They asked me to join not only for Mitsukuni, but because they wanted me in it also. I might have joined because of family obligation, but I stayed because of the bonds that we formed. When Haruhi came, it was like the door that was cracked part way slammed open and I couldn't hide myself any longer. She finished what the others started. Then she started to show me a part of myself I never knew existed. I never understood what it really meant to let your heart lead you until her. The day Mitsukuni invited her to my kendo match was a day I will never forget. I took a chance that day and I could never regret doing that. We belong together, and I don't think I could ever let her go. She was the first girl that understood my duty to family and accepted it as part of who I am."

"Suoh is the only one that can't accept how things are, but maybe there is a reason for that. He had to give up his life in France, his mother, his home, and many other things that have shaped him into the man he is. Sometimes when you have to give up so much already, it is hard to let go of that last thing that you feel is so close to being within your grasp. I am not saying what he is doing is right, but I am saying there might be a reason he is doing this. Genes tell you who you will look like and what traits you may possess, however your experiences help to shape you. Haruhi is who she is because of what she has gone through. She might have always been tenacious, but when her mother died, she became independent and even more determined to do everything on her own and to accomplish her dreams. It took her time to learn to depend on you and the others, and now she does, but only to a point; thought she does tend to lean on you more than them, and that is as it should be. Think about a blacksmith… as he works with the metal to shape it into a blade, the impurities are pounded out of the metal and soon the blade is steady, true, strong, sharp, and the metal more pure than what he began with. People are tried and shaped the same way."

Thinking about what his father just said, Mori could find no fault with his wisdom and knew he was right. It was in that moment he knew exactly what he needed to do, but he wasn't so sure that the other man would hear what he had to say, "Thank you father."

Akira patted his son's shoulder and stood up. He was about to say something else when someone else made her presence known.

"Oh, I'm sorry Morinozuka-sama. Satoshi told me that Takashi was out here," Haruhi smiled and bowed at her future father in law.

"It is no problem Haruhi. We were done with our talk," Akira left the young couple alone. He didn't even question what Haruhi was doing suddenly appearing at 9:00 at night because he knew she would have her reasons.

Mori had stood up as soon as he heard his fiancée's voice. Frowning, he looked her over. She appeared to be ok, "What's wrong?" He was expecting an answer like Tamaki showed up or the twins won't leave me alone… he should have figured that it was something else.

"Dad called me and there is a really big storm moving in. He won't be home tonight and I tried to call you, but got your voicemail, so I called Hunny and he sent a car. I thought I was going over to his house, but when I got out of the car, I was here," Haruhi rambled and walked into the waiting arms of her love.

"I didn't know, sorry. Satoshi accidentally dropped my phone in the koi pond after dinner and I can't get it replaced until tomorrow," he kissed the top of her head.

"It isn't your fault. I figured you were busy and that is why I didn't call the main house. I guess I should have but I was in a panic to get somewhere fast. I know as soon as the storm hits, Tamaki-senpai will be at my house and I didn't want to wait around for that."

"Did you bring your bag?"

"Yah and the maid took it from me and moved it into my normal bedroom."

"You can either leave it there or move it into mine since I know you are not sleeping in your room when the storm hits," he teased her a bit.

Rolling her eyes, Haruhi snuggled into his chest, "I can sleep in my room, you just better be there when the storm hits or I am sleeping in the closet."

"Did your father say how long?"

"A couple of hours at the most, but he said it was moving in fast."

"Ok, come on. We are going to get our pjs on, and then we will pull the curtains and turn on a movie and hopefully we won't ever be aware of the storm," Mori quickly led her into the house. He had looked up at the sky and could already tell that the clouds were moving in since the stars that were once there were practically nonexistent now. Feeling the need to move as fast as possible, he stopped at her room and grabbed her bag before moving her and her things into his room. She had yet to get over her fear and he was not going to leave her to deal with it alone.

"Satoshi, was that Haruhi and your brother?" Michiko asked of her youngest son.

Without looking up from the video game he was playing, Satoshi responded, "Yes. Apparently a storm is moving in and her father won't be home tonight. Mitsukuni called and informed us she was on her way and why."

Michiko rolled her eyes at the teen in front her of and left him alone. If a storm was moving in, that meant Haruhi would be staying in Mori's room. It was the one exception that the parents made about the couple sharing a room before they were wed. They understood her crippling fear of storms and they were not about to tell their eldest that he could not comfort the woman he loved.

As Haruhi was changing into her pajamas in the bathroom, Mori pulled the curtains on his windows closed. After he and Haruhi had gotten serious and he learned about her fear of storms, he had the curtains in his room changed to heavier ones that would block out the light if needed so that if she was over, he could make sure she was at least blinded to what was happening outside. Once they were drawn, they blocked all light and there was no way to see out. He already had surround sound in his room and that helped to suppress the sounds of the storm when it raged. His room had become a bunker of sorts for the female host when her greatest fear had come alive.

Once Haruhi exited the bathroom, Mori quickly changed and then the couple settled on the couch in his room together. The movie started and as the wild host pulled his fiancée into his arms, he could only hope that she fell asleep before the storm hit, or that she couldn't tell what was going on.

The storm did indeed come and it was loud. There was no way either teen could ignore the rattling of the walls or the loud crashes that drowned out the movie they were watching. Haruhi tried to burrow herself into her fiancé, and Mori held her tight and giving her a pair of earphones connected to his iPod so that the crashes were not as loud, but it was hard not feel what was happening each time the thunder grumbled in sky.

When it was finally over, Mori could see that Haruhi was exhausted and carried her to the bed. She whimpered ever so slightly as he released her, but held tightly to him when he crawled in with her and pulled her against his side.

In the morning, the couple was awoken by the sound of snickering and a flash. Cracking an eye open, Mori saw his brother standing beside the bed, and what looked to be his phone in his hands; which meant, Satoshi had just taken a picture of the sleeping couple.

"What do you want?" Mori yawned.

"You overslept. Mom said to let you sleep, but I figured it has been long enough," Satoshi snickered.

Frowning, the elder brother questioned, "What time is it?"

"Almost ten in the morning."

Mori rubbed his eyes. He had slept a lot later than he intended and he had forgotten to set his alarm the night before. It wasn't unusual to sleep in when he had been comforting Haruhi from a storm the night before, but this was the latest he had ever slept the following morning. Clearing his throat, he whispered, "We will be out in a little bit. Go away."

"Ah Taka-bro, don't you love me anymore?" Satoshi chuckled softly.

"Go away so that I can wake up Haruhi."

"No need. I swear with the noise your brother makes, it is surprising we got to sleep as long as we did," Haruhi grinned sleepily lifting her head from her fiancé's chest and winking at the teen standing next to the bed.

"Ok, I'm going. Mom said that she will have breakfast ready for you two when you get up," the youngest Morinozuka grinned before leaving the room.

Brushing the bangs out of her eyes, Mori asked, "Are you alright?"

"I am. You always make me feel safe during the storms," Haruhi said before giving him a small kiss and hopping out of the bed.

After they were both showered and changed, they made their way into the dining room where Michiko had the morning meal waiting for them as she sipped a cup of tea, "Good morning sleepyheads."

"Sorry Morinozuka-san, it's my fault…" Haruhi was interrupted.

"I am not worried about it Haruhi. We all understand, and besides Takashi practices all of the time; it is good for him to relax sometimes. It is quite alright and there is no need to be concerned," the matriarch smiled and stood up to give both her son and future daughter-in-law a hug, "Now breakfast is on the table, please sit down and eat both of you." As soon as both teens sat down, she queried, "Haruhi are you and Takashi busy today? Arisu and I thought that we could have tea together and have a girl's day out."

"I needed to go grocery shopping, but I guess I could do that tomorrow. Takashi?" Haruhi answered and glanced at her fiancé. She liked to spend time with the Morinozuka and Haninozuka matriarchs... which is probably a good thing since she is marrying into the family eventually.

Shaking his head, Mori smiled at the woman beside him, "Go and have fun with my mother and aunt. I have to get my phone replaced and then I have another errand to run."

Haruhi turned to Michiko, "Looks like I am free."

"Excellent. I will go and call Arisu now and let her know that we will be over shortly," the mother beamed excited to spend time with Haruhi.

Once breakfast was finished and Haruhi had changed into a sundress from her jeans and t-shirt, she was whisked away by an exuberant Michiko. The two would then pick up an equally if not more so, ecstatic Arisu Haninozuka (let's remember who her son is, he has to get it from somewhere and it isn't his father). Mori chuckled when he saw how excited his mother was about girl time. He loved the fact that his whole family loved Haruhi and had accepted her into their warm embrace. Now if he could only convince someone else to let go, life would be so much easier.

As soon as Mori got his phone replaced, he got back into the car and sighed, now it as time for that errand. The car pulled into an estate with a large mansion on the grounds. Getting out of the car, the stoic host walked up to the door and knocked. As soon as the door opened and the butler appeared, Mori stated, "I am here to see Tamaki. Please tell him Takashi Morinozuka is here."


	18. Once Upon a Time

**A/N: Mori has decided to go and talk with Tamaki after his little talk with his father. Not sure if the blond will listen, especially after what he told his own father about doing everything he can so that he has no regrets. We will see what happens. Enjoy the new chapter!**

**MTRC: 69 (Tamaki)**

Chapter 18 – Once Upon A time

Mori was escorted into the drawing room of the second Suoh estate and brought tea. He was nervous and wasn't exactly sure what he wanted to say to the other man, but he felt compelled to come here today and talk to him. Would Tamaki listen? He wasn't sure and he wasn't sure if he could get the club president to back down, however, he knew he had to try something. His father had given him insight into Tamaki that he had never thought about before. Mori wondered if he had had so much taken away from him, or forced to give up as much as his friend had, would he be so unwilling to let things go as well? He probably would.

As he sat there sipping his tea and waiting for his challenger to come down and join him, his mind automatically wandered to Haruhi and he smiled. They had been together for over a year now and had made so many wonderful memories. He couldn't wait to make more with her. He could easily remember all of the times the club kidnapped her to go on an adventure with them, or when he and Haruhi were able to sneak away just them and do something together… there were a lot of those. Chuckling quietly, Mori could also remember the first time he had met Ranka.

**_Flashback…_**

_Mori had agreed to come over to Haruhi's house and meet her father one Sunday afternoon for lunch. He was extremely nervous about making a good impression on the man that raised such a wonderful daughter, but Haruhi had left out one important detail… her father was a cross dresser. When Ranka answered the door with his long hair and in a dress (he was going to the club after lunch), Mori thought he had the wrong house at first, "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I was knocking on the Fujioka door. Excuse me." He tried to turn around and walk away, but the other man, uh woman (?), wouldn't let him._

_"No, my dear boy, you are at the right apartment. I am Ryoji Fujioka, Haruhi's father. You must be Mori. My, my... Kyoya and my daughter have not done you justice at all," Ranka stated as he eyed the teen and held out his hand for the tall host to shake. _

_Taking the offered hand, Mori shook it and felt his hand squeezed… hard. It wasn't anything that he couldn't handle, but he knew it was a challenge and a warning from the father. Bowing, he stated, "It is nice to meet you uh sir. I am Takashi Morinozuka." He wasn't sure how to address the person at the door. The person before him looked just like a woman, but he said he was Haruhi's father. Mori was trying not to stare or make any major guffaws._

_"You can call me Ranka," the red head smiled and leaned close to Mori's ear, "And if you hurt my baby or do anything ungentlemanly, I will make you regret living and breathing. You will lose your reason for being a man." Pulling back he was beaming and said, "Well, don't just stand there. Come on in. My little darling made us a wonderful lunch so that we could get to know each other!" _

_Lunch tasted wonderful and went off without any further hitches, but Mori had a healthy fear of Haruhi's dad after that and did not want to cross him. Yes, Mori was bigger and stronger, however, one should never underestimate a father's love for his daughter or his need for revenge if said daughter is hurt and crying. Making sure that never happened was easy… he loved Haruhi and never wanted to hurt her. Making sure the others didn't do something to her was a little more difficult._

**_End Flashback…_**

By the time the Host Club decided to ambush Haruhi at home, Mori and Ranka were already friends and respected each other and their roles in Haruhi's life. It was still hard for the father to let his daughter go, but he didn't stand in their way… much. No, it was Tamaki that did more interfering than the red headed cross dresser could ever even think about doing… well maybe not think about doing, but Ranka has tried to be good when it concerned the couple. There were less than 30 threats towards Mori's person after all, and most of those were done within the first four months after meeting each other (the others, dear reader, happened after they were engaged or right before the couple would go on vacation together… with or without the Host Club).

Mori was pulled out of his musings by a person entering the room. Looking up, he could see that it was Tamaki and he looked very surprised to see one of the graduated hosts in his drawing room. The wild host studied the blond that just walked into the room and saw how disheveled he looked. This was not the normal Tamaki… something was wrong.

"Mori-senpai, when I was informed of your arrival, I was taking a nap. I apologize if I kept you waiting long," Tamaki stated politely. He was a host and it would not do for the president to be less than cordial, even if the man standing in front of him was a rival.

"It is alright Tamaki. I was not waiting long. Is everything alright?"

Taking a seat across from the taller man, Tamaki sat down and poured himself a cup of tea, "I am fine. I have just been training a lot. Now was there a reason for your impromptu visit? Are you backing out of the competition?" He didn't want to admit that he had been having several sleepless nights since his father had spoken to him.

"No. I am not going to back down, but you need to be aware that if by some miracle you win, Haruhi will still not love you. You are a friend Tamaki and I don't want to see you get your hopes up for something that will never be. She has tried to tell you, I have tried, everyone has, but you are not listening. So, I thought I would come over here and talk about it… just us, and no one else.

"If I win…"

The taller man interrupted his friend, "She will still never be yours."

"But the rules of the competition state…"

"You would make her go against her heart?"

"No, but…"

"Tamaki, let me tell you a story," Mori said and looked askance of the other man. When he got the nod, he continued, "A beautiful maiden…"

"Mori-senpai, if you are telling a story, it should start with 'Once upon a time…'" the blond injected.

Shaking his head, Mori sighed, but started over, "Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful maiden. She was kind and loving, and wanted to help everyone around her. She loved to stand up for the wrongs and fix the injustices of the world. She didn't care who she was talking to, she believed that people were people and it didn't matter if they were poor or rich. She also believed that no matter what, everyone should all help those around them. If someone rich was hurting someone poor, she would yell at them and tell them to go away. She didn't like seeing people hurt no matter who they were. One day she was invited to the castle and everyone was shocked because the king and queen never invited poor people to their castle before. However, this girl's exploits were known far and wide and the king wanted to see what she had to say to him, for it was well known that she believed the king needed to change some things in the kingdom. When she got to the castle and was let in though, she was told to look around and the king would see her eventually, but probably not that day. She tried to leave and said she would come back when the king had time to see her, but she was forbidden to leave. Finally accepting her predicament, she explored and found a room where she came across some princes and a princess, and she could see that they were unsure of her, and maybe looked down upon her in a way because she was admitted into their castle when she was nothing but a poor girl. She was a maiden and not someone truly worthy of their time, but something sparked an interest in all of the princes and they wanted to get to know her more. Soon she found herself befriending the princes one by one."

"How many princes were there?"

"Seven princes and one princess."

"Ok, go on," Tamaki anxiously told his friend. He was sure if this was Mori telling the story, there was a lesson in here somewhere, but there was a dreamy look in his friend's eyes as he was recounting his tale and the president was enthralled in the telling.

Nodding, Mori started his story where he left off, "She was even able to become friends with the princess when no one thought that was possible since the princess was loud, a bit obnoxious, and people said she was a little crazy; but the maiden was able to see the princess's true heart and see her for who she really was, and the two became friends. Of the seven princes, all but two fell madly in love with her. One of the two that didn't fall in love with her, had some sort of feelings for her, but they never turned into more than curiosity, caring, and respect. He never felt true love and he could never see himself married to her forever. The other prince that did not have feelings for her, found himself loving her as a sister and close friend. He never had feelings for her beyond that and never would. He was in love with someone else anyway. That left five princes that were in love with her. One of the princes stepped back and decided to lock away his love and only love her from afar. He chose to be her friend and never confess his feelings, and she became one of his best friends."

"You have to give them names Mori-senpai!"

Pausing to think about what his friend said, Mori finally stated, "Ok, I will use colors. The princess will be Princess Yellow. The prince that never had feelings for her will be Prince Pink…"

"Shouldn't the princess be pink and the prince be yellow?"

"Fine… Princess Pink and Prince Yellow. The prince that only had a crush on her will be Prince Purple. The prince that locked his feelings away will be Prince Orange. Now let's continue. Another prince decided to confess and tell her of his feelings, but she didn't realize that he was confessing and only wanted to be friends with him anyway. Prince Red was sad, but accepted the role she allowed him in her life. For you see, another prince had already captured her heart at that point. Prince Blue loved her and had heard of her many actions before he ever met her. Well, all of the princes had, but Prince Blue was intrigued to the point that a crack started to open in his heart. A heart that everyone thought was closed off permanently to love. When he met her and got to know her, he found out that he was in love with her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. He told her of this, and she admitted that she loved him as well, but they were afraid of hurting their friends. It was not time to tell the king, so they kept it hidden… for the time being. In the meantime, Prince White and Prince Aqua fell madly in love with the maiden. She thought of them only as good friends. Prince Aqua was a very jealous man and hurt her feelings more than once, but Prince White was a gentle man and tried to help her if he could. Prince White was fascinated by her to the point he made a lot of trips out into the countryside to see how the poor lived. He learned a lot about himself and the world on those journeys. Alas, Prince Blue and the maiden were eventually found out. Prince Aqua flew into a rage, but Prince Blue stood up for the maiden. Prince White was very hurt and wouldn't talk to them for a time. After she had been in the castle for a couple of months, the king finally decided to meet with her and he offered her a choice. She could marry any of the seven princes she wanted to. She wanted Prince Blue, but Prince White would not hear of it and tried to take her away attempting to keep her from her true love. She cried and pleaded with him to stop, but he would not listen. He wanted her for himself and he would not be denied. He didn't care that he was ripping her away from the one man she did love. She cried and hated what Prince White was doing to her because it was breaking her heart. She only wanted Prince Blue and no one else; however, Prince White believed she belonged to him and him alone, and if he could not have her, then no one else should either. He did what he could to hide her and win her heart, but it was not working… she still loved Prince Blue."

Silence passed between the two men for several minutes before Tamaki cleared his throat, "What happened next?"

"That part of the story has yet to be written," Mori said as he looked the other man in the eye. Another minute passed and he tilted his head to the side before he spoke gently, "I know you have given up a lot in order to help your family, your mother, your friends… It feels as if you are the only one doing the giving and everyone else is doing the taking, but you still have your friends and you will never have to give us up. We are always going to be around… even if you tried to push us away. Haruhi and I will get married, but you will always be our friend and have an important part in our lives, and our children's lives. Never doubt that you are an intricate part of us. If it wasn't for you, I might not have found my Haruhi or have even been willing to take a chance and tell her how I felt. You have helped me to open myself up to the world and for me to see that there was more than just duty to my family available to me. One of these days, you are going to meet someone that will set your soul on fire and you will know what it really means to live for another. You brought the Host Club together. You are the one responsible for bringing each one of us into the fold, and that includes Haruhi. She loves you Tamaki, but you are a friend and brother, and sometimes a crazy father figure; however, it isn't how one loves a man she wants to spend the rest of her life with. She hates that she is causing a rift between friends and she won't tell me, but I know she cries for us. The thing is, she isn't causing the problems, the duels and competitions are."

"I'm Prince White. Hunny is Prince Yellow, Kaoru is Orange, Hikaru is Aqua, Kyoya is Purple, and you are Blue. Who is Prince Red?"

"That is correct, and Kasanoda is Prince Red."

Nodding, Tamaki muttered, "I don't want to have regrets and let her go too easily. What if it was just one more competition that would win her?"

"It isn't. If she really loved you Tamaki, she would have chosen you a long time ago. It would not have mattered who won or who lost in this pointless competitions. A heart, once it has been freely given, is no longer available to win by another."

"I don't want to wonder 'What if?'"

"You fought a long, hard battle my friend… you should never have to question "What if?", but you will never have her heart. Do you really want to turn what she does feel for you into hatred? I know it is hard to let go of something you want and the questions that come with losing; however, I do not know what it is like to lose and give up as much as you have. I pray I never learn, but it says a lot about what kind of person you are. You want to help others and think of others before yourself… most of the time. I am not asking you to let go of Haruhi for me, I am asking you to do it for her. If she was truly in love with you, I would let her go, but she isn't and she never will be. She can't be locked in a cage, Tamaki. It is that saying if you love something set it free. I know one of these days you will find someone truly amazing, and you deserve that and more."

"Everyone leaves me or I have to say goodbye," Tamaki whispered softly.

Mori almost missed his friend's words, but he didn't and it made his gut twist. His father had been right. Standing up, he walked over to his friend and placed his hand on the blonde's shoulder, "We won't ever leave you Tamaki. You were right when you said the Host Club is a family. We are… it might be dysfunctional, but it works for us. We all love the club, and that includes me, Haruhi, and Mitsukuni. If we didn't, Haruhi would have left after her debt was paid and her gender was revealed, and Mitsukuni and I would have stopped coming after we graduated. We are all still there. The twins still pull pranks on everyone, and that is there way of showing they care. Kyoya is still there at your side, and even when he doesn't agree with you, he will support you and go along with your spontaneous ideas. You have even started to help Yasuchika come out of his shell a little. You have done an amazing thing creating the club. I know you did it for the ladies, but you helped all of us. Haruhi found out that she can depend on people. Kyoya learned that it was ok to have friends without merits and that there was a great destiny in store for him; he can surpass his brothers and if he works hard, he can still become heir even if he is the third son. Mitsukuni found an outlet for his personality and it helped him to realize he can be happy in life being himself no matter whom or what that is. The twins learned that their world was bigger than just two people and that although we can't always tell them apart, we still love them and accept them. I learned that it is ok to let yourself go every once in a while and relax. We all owe you something Tamaki because you gave us more than you realize. You are a great man and one of these days, you will have a great woman."

Taking in a deep shuddering breath, Tamaki let the first tear fall, "But it isn't Haruhi."

"It isn't Haruhi."

"I think I need to go to my room now. I'm sorry for not seeing you out," the president stood up and kept his head bowed as he hurried out of the room.

Mori wasn't sure if he was able to reach his friend or not, but he really hoped that Tamaki heard what he had to say. Shaking his head, he walked towards the door and left the second Suoh estate wondering what Tamaki would say or do next. Was the competition over? Was the overzealous blond going to finally let go of the girl? The tall stoic host didn't know and it would probably be a couple of days before he had answers, but until then he could hope and pray. His friend deserved all of the happiness in the world after everything he had been through, and Mori hated hurting him, but in this instance there was no choice. The kendo master had no doubt that one of these days Tamaki Suoh would be standing at the head of his family with the perfect woman for him at his side… and Mori couldn't wait for the day his friend's dreams and desires came true.

**A/N2: I made it through a whole chapter without hitting Tamaki. I must be slipping. LOL. **


	19. Worrisome

**A/N: When I had started writing the last chapter, I wasn't sure what I was going to say and I am not sure where that little fairy tale came from, but it seemed apt. I am happy all of you liked it. I figured using the rose colors would be a good way to identify everyone without having to come up with a bunch of names. LOL. Will Tamaki be hit in this one? We will have to read and find out. Enjoy minna!**

**PS… There is a poll up on my site to vote for your favorite revenge chapter on the story Revenge up on CyraAngel. The third and final revenge chapter has been posted and it involves Mori/Haruhi/Honey this time. Vote if you can. Thanks everyone!**

Chapter 19 – Worrisome

For the remainder of the day, Mori had remained distracted causing his brother and Haruhi to ask more than once if he was alright. He was, but he would have felt better had he known if he got through to Tamaki. He needed to know that what he said made a difference and that the other man would give up his foolish dream of winning the Host Club princess as his very own. Haruhi already had a prince and that was Mori, and he refused to give her up… not that she would let him quit her (Haruhi was stubborn like that).

"So you want to tell me what happened this afternoon?" Haruhi asked narrowing her eyes on her boyfriend as she studied his profile. He was gazing out the window, which in and of itself wasn't unusual, but he had made no move to hold her or touch her since they got in the car. He was off in his own little world and that concerned her.

As if suddenly remembering he wasn't alone in the car, Mori's head snapped around so that he was facing Haruhi, "Sorry. I just have some things on my mind."

"I think you freaked your brother out today with how distracted you were. One of the only other times I have seen you like this is when we were at the Aqua Gardens and Hunny went missing last year. Your father said you were distracted last night as well, so let's try this again… What is going on in that head of yours?"

Sighing, Mori knew it was no use to keep it from her, and he couldn't lie to her because he never had and he wouldn't start now, "I went to see Tamaki today after I got a new phone."

Crickets would have created more noise than Haruhi did at that moment. She was surprised and hadn't expected that answer, finally forcing out, "Oh."

Mori took her smaller hand in his much larger one and marveled at their differences, not for the first time, "I am starting to see the cracks the strife has caused, and for some reason he really believes he can win you over by becoming the victor in a challenge. I needed to talk to him about his delusions."

"Tamaki-senpai has always been a bit delusional."

"He has, but not to the point where it is affecting the club as a whole. You can't tell me that you don't see it."

Begrudgingly Haruhi admitted, "I see it and I wish I didn't."

"I felt like we needed to talk one on one with no one else there. He is a prideful man even if he doesn't want to admit it. Well, no man likes to admit defeat, and the last place he would admit it is in front of the others."

"What did you tell him?" The small secretive smile that appeared on her fiancé's face intrigued her and she really wanted to know what was said.

"It is between us. Guy talk."

"You won't tell me anything?"

"I told him a story."

Deadpanning, Haruhi questioned, "A story?"

"Yes, a story."

"What story? What did he say? What did he do?"

"A story I made up. I think he is thinking about everything."

"Can you tell me the story?"

Mori looked down at the small girl next to him and shook his head. Leaning down he kissed her nose before hovering over her lips, "Maybe on our honeymoon. The story isn't finished yet." After that was said, he connected their lips together in a kiss that felt as if he was branding her as his one more time.

The couple pulled back when the driver announced they had arrived at Haruhi's apartment. Although they were not ready for their time to be finished, they both had school the next day and it was time to say goodbye. Both were looking forward to the day, they did not have to leave each other's sides any longer.

With one last kiss, Mori left Haruhi at her door and went back down to the car. His mind was still on Tamaki and what the blond intended to do next. He felt like this was a chess match and he was watching anxiously for his opponent to make the next move, but Mori knew one thing… it would never be checkmate for him.

Haruhi closed the front door with a small sigh and a smile gracing her lips, but suddenly the smile disappeared and she was frowning at the door, "He didn't really tell me anything! Damn hosting skills."

"Haruhi, whatever the door did, I am sure it didn't mean it since it is not alive," Ranka chuckled as he walked into the kitchen and saw his daughter glaring at the door.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she turned around and saw her father looking glamorous in a deep purple dress, "Hi dad."

"SO CUTE!" Ranka yelled and pulled Haruhi into his arms for a tight hug.

Haruhi struggled, but was finally freed from the man's embrace, "Don't you have to go to work?"

"Oh, you're right! Don't worry Haruhi; daddy will make it on time. Are you going to be alright here by yourself? Why were you glaring at the door? Don't forget that you need to lock the door after I leave."

"I wasn't glaring at the door, I realized I asked Takashi a question and he didn't really answer it."

Giggling, Ranka grinned, "Well, every man is entitled to their secrets just like every woman is… as long as it isn't anything major." His grin turned to a snarl, "He better not be cheating on your or about to hurt you! I'LL KILL HIM!"

Haruhi sweat dropped, "It isn't anything like that dad, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure? You know daddy needs to make sure he is treating my baby properly."

"I'm positive. It is about Tamaki-senpai and him…"

"THAT COCKROACH? I WILL KILL THAT WORM BEFORE HE CAN GET NEAR YOU AND I KNOW TAKASHI WILL HELP ME!"

Taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Haruhi tried to calm her father down, "I am sure it is nothing. Takashi went over there to talk to him about all these competitions and such."

"As long as that blond poser stays away from you, I will be satisfied. I swear, I don't know what I would have done if you had picked him instead of that wonderful Takashi. I think you picked the best out of the bunch Haruhi; although, Kyoya and Mitsukuni are nice boys too."

The female host stood there and listened to all of this and couldn't help but to face palm, "They are great guys. Don't you have to go to work dad? Look at the time."

"Oh you are right! Oh my little girl is always taking care of me. I don't know what I'm going to do when you're gone," Ranka started to get weepy eyed and pulled his daughter in for another hug.

As tight as the embrace was and as much as she couldn't breathe, she didn't fight her father much at first, but then had to remind him, "Dad, your face will run and you're getting make-up on me."

When her father looked up, his face was still perfect, "Oh no dear, waterproof make-up for those times when you might have a moment. You must be prepared for anything. I thought I taught you better than that Haruhi."

"Dad, work," she grumbled and pointed towards the door her eye twitching and a couple of hash marks appeared over her head.

"Ok, ok, I'm going. You might want to do something about that twitching eye. It is worrisome. Lock the door after me when I'm gone and don't let in strangers. I love you!" Ranka called out in his sing song voice as he walked out the door in order to get to the bar where he worked.

Sighing, Haruhi shook her head, "Yah, no way I could have married that and not killed Tamaki. Love my father, but two people 24/7 is too much." It was times like these that she truly appreciates the peace her fiancé brought her. However, right now she wanted to know what was said this afternoon, but she also knew that Mori would not tell her until he was ready or wanted to. He had said it was between them and he would hold to that code of honor. She knew she could probably call Tamaki if she really wanted to know, but that would create two problems: she would have to deal with Tamaki and she would be going around her fiancé's back. Neither one of those sounded like it was worth the hassle.

When Mori got home from dropping off his fiancée, his mother was waiting for him on the front porch near the door. He bowed and said, "Hello mother."

Michiko smiled at her eldest son and walked up to him, placing a hand on his cheek, "You have been distracted lately, but I understand. Tamaki Suoh is a good friend and the person that sought you out to join the Host Club."

"He is, but he and I had a discussion today, so I am hoping that he will change his position on the issue."

"I pray he does as well. You and Haruhi are well matched and I love her like a daughter. I know you would never let her just because someone else wants her hand. If that were the case, you would never have pursued her to begin with."

"That is true."

"You have your brother worried. If you two would have been on the mats today, he would have taken you. You always tell him to be aware of everything around him, and yet you were less than that today."

"I'm sorry mother."

"There is nothing to be sorry for. You have a lot on your mind right now between school, kendo, Haruhi, and these silly competitions; however, I know it is the competitions and the fact that you are battling a friend that has you out of sorts. You deserve just as much happiness as everyone else in the world, and Haruhi is the other half to your soul. I don't say all this to you to chastise you; I say it as a mother concerned for her son. It is a lot of pressure to fight for the woman you love against someone that has been a beloved friend, but I also know that you are strong in body as well as spirit and mind. You have grown up before my eyes and you have become a man. I know you will be able to work through this and still keep your group of friends intact. I believe in you Takashi."

"Thank you mother," Mori swallowed hard touched by the words and the trust she put in him.

Tilting her head to the side, she studied her son momentarily before smiling and pulling him down for a kiss on the cheek, "Come now. Let's go in and you can talk to your brother before he starts calling you an alien like Yasuchika does to Mitsukuni."

Mori nodded and followed his mother in the house. He needed to convince his brother that he was fine and meditate before he turned in. Tomorrow would bring answers he sought, but were they going to be the ones he wanted? He wasn't sure and he was finding that patience was not easy for him right now.

The next day at club time, everyone had gathered together before the doors opened. Somehow Hunny and Mori had been able to make it also since their afternoon classes were cancelled. Tamaki had an announcement to make. Clearing his throat, he looked at all eight members of the club that were facing him and declared, "After a man to man talk with Mori-senpai yesterday, I have decided that the competition will commence as planned!" Groans could be heard coming from all of the club members and he noticed Mori shaking his head.

Kyoya pinched the bridge of his nose. Tamaki had called him last night and told him all about the meeting with Mori, and to his best friend's shock (why I was such a shock, I don't know but it was), he had told the blond that he agreed with everything that the wild host had said. The call ended with Tamaki saying he had to go and hanging up. If this is what he came up with, then Kyoya wondered if his friend had a brain at all (it might have been beaten out of him already). Raising his black book, he hit his friend on the back of the head.

"Ow! Mon Ami, you shouldn't hit people like that!" Tamaki grumbled. However his scowl turned to a smile and he held up his hand for silence, "I wasn't finished yet mommy! As I was about to say, all members will be participating in a team competition."

"Team competition?!" Everyone yelled. What was going through the king's mind now? (Really it is Tamaki, so who really knows what goes on in that brain of his.)


	20. The Competition is On!

**A/N: So apparently I left all of you wondering what was going on in Tamaki's head and many people believing he didn't get it. I meant to leave you hanging, but wasn't exactly expecting the response I got about Tamaki's idea. I went back and read it and realized I might have messed with my readers a bit like I do in my Assuming series. For my Nekozawa/Haruhi readers, that story will be updated tomorrow. I got the itch to work on this story today, and that means the stories will get a little out of order, but that is ok. Last chapter only one hit, so the MTRC: 70. Enjoy!**

**PS… there is a poll on my site and on CyraAngel. The third revenge chapter (Hunny/Haruhi/Mori) has been posted for the story Revenge, and we want to know which ending you want to see the epilogue for. Don't forget the story has moved to CyraAngel since that is the page I share with the co-writer CyraHafise. Thanks everyone!**

Chapter 20 – The Competition is

"Team competition?!" Everyone yelled. What was going through the king's mind now?

Nodding like he was an excitable five year-old, Tamaki beamed, "Yes, isn't my idea brilliant?!"

Mori was really trying to keep himself from hitting the moron king, but it was a really close call. Taking in a really deep breath, he released it slowly before he finally spoke, "So what you are saying is instead of a competition between you and I, you want to make it a full team competition and winner gets…"

"The winning team will get a trophy and the privilege of deciding where we are going on our next Host Club trip!" The blond president announced.

Everyone sweat dropped, that was not the answer they were expecting. Kyoya smiled and pushed up his glasses, "So Haruhi isn't the prize any longer?"

"What? Gah, no!" Tamaki rushed to say and then surveyed his friends as it dawned on him that is what everyone still believed. Scratching the back of his neck, he looked a bit sheepish when he explained, "I know I have gone a little crazy with the competitions and trying to win Haruhi's heart, but I had a good talk with some very wise people in my life and I realized that as much as I love her, she loves someone else and if I truly loved her, I would be able to let her go. So the fair maiden belongs with Prince Blue."

"WHAT?" Everyone in the room except for Kyoya and Mori shouted. They had no clue what their fearless (or idiotic if that suits you better dear reader) leader was talking about. First he was gung ho about winning Haruhi for himself and concocted competition after competition in order to claim his prize. Then he announces today that they are going to have a team competition, but the prize is no longer Haruhi; and now he is talking about a Prince Blue. Who is Prince Blue? Haruhi was engaged to Mori.

Glancing up at her fiancé standing next to her, Haruhi narrowed her eyes on the smug looking smile on his face and tugged on his shirt sleeve to get his attention. When he looked down at her, she crooked her finger for him to come closer and whispered in his ear, "I know that the Prince Blue thing has something to do with your talk yesterday, and you can't expect me to wait until our honeymoon after he said that, so you need to spill."

"One of these days," Mori whispered softly back to her and stood straight again after giving her a wink. He knew it would drive her a bit crazy that he wouldn't tell her what happened, but she was cute when she was all worked up and there were times he really liked to tease her… like now, when they had no threat of Tamaki trying to swoop in and take her away looming over their heads.

"Wait a minute!" Hikaru yelled.

"Boss, are you telling us," Kaoru began.

"That you don't want Haruhi any longer," Hikaru continued.

The twins looked at each other and then at back at Tamaki before simultaneously saying, "And this competition is just for fun now?"

Smiling, Tamaki stated, "That is exactly what I am saying… in a way. I still love her and want her, but she is who she is meant to be with, so I am stepping to the side and allowing Mori-senpai to be her prince charming."

"Kyoya-senpai, I think Tono needs to see the nurse," Kaoru suggested.

Hikaru concurred, "Yah, senpai. I think he might have been taken by body snatching aliens. It looks like the boss, but he doesn't act like the boss."

Pushing up his glasses, Kyoya shook his head, "It is still our beloved prince. He has just made some decisions about his life and the relationships in it. Tamaki realized that Haruhi's happiness is more important that trying to force her to do what he wanted. Maybe you two could learn a lesson or two from him."

"What are you talking about? Learn from Boss?" The twins guffawed together.

"So if you figured that out, why are we still having a competition?" Chika grumbled. He really didn't understand why they were going through the motions if there was no reason to do so any longer.

"Oh my dear Yasuchika… you still have so much to learn about being a host and pleasing the ladies," Tamaki replied as charmingly as possible. He placed his hand on the younger man's shoulder and sighed deeply while shaking his head, however, in the next moment he found himself on the floor with a bump rising very quickly on the back of his head. Squinting above him, he could see Satoshi standing over him with a shinai in his hands. He could hear the twins laughing and he whined, "What did you do that for?"

Attempting to keep his mirth under control, Satoshi replied, "It was either I hit you or allow Yasuchika to beat the crap out of you. I figured I made the best decision in regards to keeping your body intact."

Tamaki was a bit confused, "What do you mean?"

"Awe, Satoshi, you should have allowed Yasuchika to take care of him!" Hikaru cried out.

Kaoru agreed with his brother, "Yah that would have been so much better than taking him down with one hit with your stick."

"It isn't a stick. It is called a shinai and represents the sword used by samurai. It is used instead of a sword or a bokuto or bokken in order to decrease the number of injuries sustained during practice. It is made out of four slats of bamboo and the name means bamboo sword that can bend or flex. Before you try to criticize or insult the sport or the equipment, you should learn a thing or two about it first."

Slowly turning their eyes downwards to look at the person talking, eight people gaped in shock. The person lecturing the twins on kendo wasn't Mori or Satoshi, and it wasn't even Haruhi… no it was Tamaki.

"How the hell do you know all that?" Chika questioned loudly.

Tilting his head to the side and giving the youngest Haninozuka a blank stare, Tamaki answered, "What? Is that not right? I believe that is what I learned when I was training. Of course I could be wrong, but…"

"What Tamaki means is that before his instructor was willing to teach him, they spent a week on the history of kendo, the equipment used, and what everything means. He wanted to immediately start sparring, but Master would not let him. Apparently he learned something and it stuck. Who knew that would actually happen?" Kyoya explained interrupting his friend. He could see Chika was itching to get his own punches in on Tamaki, and he probably felt cheated since his cousin disposed of the president for him.

Chika counted to 10 and then he tried again, "Why are we still having the competition?"

"Well that is a silly question," Tamaki said as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"If you do not answer me in the next 20 seconds my silly hand will meet your funny looking face and then you will still have to answer the question," Chika growled.

Holding up his hands to shield his face, Tamaki shouted, "Ok, ok, just don't hit my face. It is beautiful and the girls love it."

"Ten seconds," Chika reminded him.

"We are still holding the competition because we are hosts, gentleman, and we don't want to disappoint the ladies!" The president rushed out hoping he appeased the younger man.

It was a close call to rein in his temper and swallow the part of him that told him to hit Tamaki anyway, but Chika was able to do it… for now, "WHAT?"

"Don't worry Yasuchika; with our help, we will make you into the proper gentleman and host. You have a long way to go, but if we can turn Haruhi, who is nothing more than a commoner, into a gentleman, we can turn you into a proper young man without much woooorrrrk," Tamaki was telling Chika that when he suddenly was lifted into the air and flew across the room (now I know what you are thinking… it was Chika, but it wasn't.)

Hunny dusted his hands off and noticed everyone staring at him as if he had two heads, "What? He insulted Haru-Chan and Chika-Chan."

"Mommy, why did Hunny-senpai throw me like that?" Tamaki whimpered from where he lay slumped upside down against the wall.

Walking up to his friend, Kyoya smirked, "If you wouldn't have insulted his family and future family, he might not have done it. Now will you get up from there and we can all sit down instead of standing around and discuss everything like the calm, rational people we all are… well most of us are."

Tamaki slowly righted himself and joined everyone in one of the many sitting areas. Taking his seat next to Kyoya, he saw Haruhi about to sit down next to Mori and was unable to stop the words from flying out of his mouth, "Come on Haruhi, you can sit next to daddy today!"

"No thank you Tamaki-senpai," Haruhi grumbled rolling her eyes at him. For all of his words, he was still Tamaki and he would never change.

"But Haruhi, you don't ever spend any time with daddy anymore!" The president pouted and then, "Oof!" Looking to his right, he spotted Kyoya lowering his notebook, "Mommy! You aren't supposed to hit me and now you have hit me twice in one day. I thought we were friends!"

"We are, except when you are acting like a first rate baka. Now explain to everyone why we are still having the competition and what your plan is," Kyoya glared.

Gulping, the blond second year nodded and quickly started his speech, "The girls already know about the competition and therefore it would disappoint them if we cancelled it. Our purpose in the Host Club is to make the ladies happy; ergo the competition must go on. Now, we have an uneven number of people in the club, so I propose Haruhi is the judge of the competition. The princesses will want to see all of their favorite hosts compete, so allowing one of the other men out of the competition would not be fair. I will open the floor to discussion, but there will be eight of us competing that day. We can either have two groups of four or four groups of two."

"Why can't we have three groups of three?" Satoshi asked with his eyebrow raised.

"Three groups of…?" Tamaki repeated dumbfounded.

Kyoya pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. Why was this man his best friend again? "Apparently our illustrious king failed remedial math. Tamaki, you didn't even think about that? This way everyone can compete. Since it is a triathlon, each member of the team can do one of the events, or we can have it where everyone does everything."

"How would we break up the teams?" The twins inquired at the same time.

Glancing around the group, Kyoya suggested, "We can either draw names or people can form their own teams. Mori-senpai, Hunny-senpai, and Haruhi will want to be one team. I know Satoshi and Chika will want to be together. The twins will want to stay together, and that will leave Tamaki and I. So I recommend that Tamaki goes with the twins and I will join Satoshi and Chika."

"Oh we like that plan," the twins sneered and gazed at Tamaki like he was their prey instead of their teammate.

"MOMMY!" Tamaki jumped on the couch, and tried to grab his best friend when Hikaru and Kaoru stood up and started to advance, but Kyoya pushed him away and Tamaki fell over the back of the couch landing head first on the floor.

Shaking his head, Kyoya sighed and pushed up his glasses as he stood, "I believe we have the teams decided. Let's think on how we want to proceed with the competition and meet again at lunch tomorrow. Mori-senpai, Hunny-senpai, I know you will be unable to attend, but if you could email or text me your thoughts, I will be sure to include them. I believe that is all for today… unless you had something to add Tamaki." Nothing was heard from the back of the couch except a groan and Kyoya chuckled, "Well, that is all. Goodbye everyone!"

With that the Host Club was dismissed. The twins went to find their victim and tease him mercilessly. Kyoya went to work on his laptop at his normal table, and the other flew out of their before Tamaki could come to his senses. They weren't sure what happened today, but they would take it as a miracle and accept it, for to do anything else could be detrimental to their sanity. Tamaki had changed his mind and now the competition was all for the benefit of the ladies instead of for the hand of Haruhi Fujioka.

**A/N2… I tried to make up for only 1 hit in the last two chapters, but I could only do so much… Look for a lot more hits coming in the next couple of chapters and it might not only be Tamaki suffering. LOL. **


	21. The Once and Not So Future King

**A/N: Sorry it has taken forever to update. Last week was not a good one. I got bronchitis and then my computer got infected with a worm. Luckily my sister is one of those tech support people and she is fixing it for me... bad news, the job was bigger than she thought it was going to be, so it might be another week before I have my computer again. I do have a tablet, but I keep my stories on a flashdrive and several chapters for my stories were half done on that drive. I can't access those on my tablet. So I thought about not updating anything until I got it back, but I hate not being able to work on my stories and publish. My book I have to put on hold, but FF, I can at least attempt to work on it by typing it directly into doc manager. XD. So regardless of what has already been written on flash drive, everything is going to be redone. Bear with me and I am sorry it took a while. Enjoy the chapter!**

**PS... Until my computer is fixed, the polls on my page, CyraHafise, and CyraAngel will remain up. So you can still vote to see what epilogue you want. The current results are Hunny/Haruhi in first. Hunny/Haruhi/Mori in second. Mori/Haruhi in third. Honestly, I was a little surprised by the results, but I will not lie and say, it doesn't make me smile. We need more Hunny and cake around here. LOL. Vote if you want the results to change (you have you chance to vote three times between the pages).**

Chapter 21 - The Once and Not So Future King

"I don't understand why you didn't just let me clock him! He was treating me like an imbecile when he is the idiot!" Chika growled as soon as the five relatives (well one was soon to be a relative) got into the car.

Satoshi laughed, "If I did that then we have had to hide a body. Kyoya-senpai might be skilled at something like that, but I don't count it among my repertoire. Besides, it isn't fair that you and Haruhi get all of the fun, so your brother and I took care of it all."

"He's right Chika-Chan! Tama-Chan may be a baka, but the club needs him... at least for a little longer," Hunny stated with a glint in his eye.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Chika pouted, "I still think I should have been able to handle him."

Suddenly the stillness was broken by hysterical laughter coming from three of the five occupants, and even Mori was joining in the laughter. Haruhi belted out, "Oh my God! You looked and acted just like Tamaki-senpai right then. The only thing missing was the damn mushrooms!" She wiped a tear away from her eyes as she gave in to the mirth once again

Chika's irritation flared before it finally gave way to humor. She was right, he was acting like Tamaki and that was one thing he never wanted to do again. Clearing his throat, he turned to his cousin, "Satoshi, if I ever do that again, beat it out of me with your shinai." That started another round of laughter; no one ever thought they would see the day Chika gave permission to Satoshi to hit him... the youngest Morinozuka usually just took it upon himself. Sweat dropping, Chika wondered if he was going to survive the school year.

Back in the club room, Kyoya turned around and located where the disruption in the room was coming from. The twins were still teasing Tamaki and giving him a hard time. The fact that they were going to be on the same team together... well that was the Shadow King's version of a little payback for what Tamaki (and we can't forget the twins... mainly Hikaru) had done to Mori and Haruhi. (Now, you may be asking, is that all? This is Kyoya, so probably not.) Shaking his head, Kyoya stood up and meandered over to where the terrible trio was located, and with his trusty black book managed to hit three unsuspecting teens in the head with one fell swoop, "Unlike you three morons, I actually have work to do in order to make sure that this... competition runs smoothly. If you have no other business here, shouldn't you go home? HIkaru, Kaoru, I know for a fact you have a major test tomorrow. Tamaki..." Kyoya paused here and allowed the light to glint off of his glasses, "Stay, I need to discuss something with you."

Three gulps could be heard as three teens huddled together to escape the Shadow King, but in the next moment, a blond was thrust away from two redheads and landed face first on the hard floor. When Tamaki looked up, the twins were nowhere to be found and he had a giant red mark on his face from skidding across the floor (think something like carpet burn, but done with marble. Oh his poor face). Slowly standing up, the president approached his best friend in the dark lair hidden in the corner (ok, it was just a table where Kyoya works, but this is Tamaki), "What d-did you need Kyo-Kyoya?"

"Breathe Tamaki, I am not going to kill you, at least not today," Kyoya smirked.

"WHAT? Mommy, why would you even say something like that? I am your best friend and together we have to raise our family!"

LIfting his head from the computer, the bespectacled teen regarded his friend momentarily, "Of course, our family." It sounded more sarcastic than actually agreement, and then he continued, "I just wanted to tell you that I was impressed by what you did today. It showed a lot of maturity on your part."

"Really? Thank you mom..." Tamaki was interrupted.

"However, that being said, it should never have gone that far. I am glad that you came to your senses, but be aware that it will take time to heal the hurt you caused. I am not only talking about Mori-senpai and Haruhi, but for the others in the club as well. Although, your idiocy did increase profits year to date for the club by 67%. The competitions were a good idea and something the future generations should consider... that is if we turn over the management of the club to others and do not just close it."

"WE CAN'T CLOSE IT! WHAT ABOUT THE LADIES?"

Kyoya rolled his eyes, "I didn't say we were going to close it, but this is our last year. Next year we will be in university with Mori-senpai and Hunny-senpai. We need to start thinking about what we will do with the Host Club and who will run it if we decide to continue the endeavor."

"There must always be a Host Club at Ouran!" Tamaki proclaimed standing on a pedestal that seemed to appear out of thin air. "The ladies and gentlemen that come to this room... this abandoned music room, come to find a little bit of love, excitement, happiness, and hope that we as hosts are the only ones that can supply such entertainment."

"Haruhi is a girl and a hostess this year," Kyoya pointed out as he pushed up his glasses, but Tamaki wasn't listening.

"There lives may not be dreary, but they can be monotonous, and we break up some of that and give them a ray of hope and sunshine. They need us to survive, to laugh, to cry, to have fun."

"They don't need us to survive..."

"As members of the Host Club we see to our customers' needs and dreams, well within reason we do. No Host Club at Ouran would mean a limited existence for the students that attend school here. As the future, well maybe, heir to the Suoh Group, I cannot allow that to happen. We as the first generation and founders of the Host Club must ensure its growth and future for the future generations. GAH!" Tamaki found himself falling off of the pedestal and staring up at the ceiling. When he regained some of his bearings, he sat up shaking his head and saw his best friend holding a shinai, "Kyoya?"

"Satoshi gave it to me in case I needed to get your attention. I must say, it works fairly well and I can see why he is so fond of this technique with Yasuchika."

Tamaki squeaked, "Mommy?"

"Now, are you ready to listen? Very well, as I was saying, the club doesn't have to close, but we do need to make some decisions. There are plans that need to be made and considerations to be done. Think about what we should do in the future and how we should hand off the reins to the next group."

"Why can't I be the president and you be the vice president any more?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose, the Shadow King could feel red tick marks starting to appear overhead. He counted to ten before he said anything, "You and I will be at university. As with Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai, they cannot come to club every day. We will not be able to come to the Host Club all of the time once we are in college. Someone else will have to run the club in the future. You will always be the first president, founder, and king/prince of the club, but you cannot be the one to always run it. If you don't like that, then we will need to consider dissolution."

"NO! I can let someone else lead the club."

Kyoya smiled as he pushed up his glasses again, "I thought you might say that. So, think about how we want to do this and we will discuss it at a later date."

"Tomorrow at the other meeting?"

"No, Tamaki. Tomorrow we will be discussing the competition. I want to have our plans for the club discussed between us alone before we approach the other members of the Host Club."

Tamaki jumped up and ran up to his friend to hug him, but before he could grab Kyoya in a hug, he tripped over something and landed face first into the wall. Gazing dazedly up, he noticed his best friend examining the shinai in his hands, and what he heard the Shadow King murmur caused him to deadpan before running to his corner.

"This thing really does have 101 uses. I wonder if Satoshi would be willing to write all of those uses down so that we can sell it to our customers," Kyoya muttered. He heard his best friend suck in half the air on the planet and run to the mushroom corner. Chuckling to himself, Kyoya returned to his table to finish up a couple of items before he headed home.

The next day at lunch, the club met to decide how they were going to participate in the competition. Tamaki also tried to offer to change teams, but the other two teams refused to have them as part of their trio. So he was stuck with the twins. With the decisions made, the competition was set and everyone was ready to see who made the best team. (Now dear reader, I am sure you are curious about what was decided and you will have to wait for the competition to see that. As for our wonderful prince, well when he saw Haruhi enter the music room at the beginning of lunch, he hugged her and found himself kissing the Persian rug when she punched his jaw, karate chopped both of his arms and kicked him to the ground. He tried to hug her again when she was leaving, but Chika needed to get rid of some of his frustrations and grabbed his arm, throwing him overhead and then throwing his shuriken to pin the Host Club president to the ground. He told Kyoya he would pick up his weapons later.) Thus ended another meeting of the Ouran Host Club.

**A/N2: I hope that you enjoyed the hits in this chapter. The next chapter will be the competition and I am planning on a little mayhem. **


	22. It's a Good Day for a Triathlon

**A/N: So apparently everyone liked the hits and the fact that Kyoya used a shinai… very useful tool indeed. Especially when dealing with an overzealous blond best friend. So I was thinking about this, do you want to see a side story where Satoshi writes his 101 uses? If you do, let me know by pm or review. Thank you to mtnikolle for keeping us up to date on the counts. As of the last chapter we have: Tamaki – 82, Hikaru – 4, and Kaoru – 3. Poor Tamaki, he has surpassed the official count of the first story and there have been less chapters (Bitter 1: officially 77, unofficially 117); however, we got started with the punches earlier in his story and we are counting him getting it from everyone. I want to say thank you to all of my readers and reviewers. I get excited when I read the reviews or see that someone else favored/alerted the story. Thank you everyone. Also big thank you to MzShellSan for the idea about Haruhi. Enjoy the new chapter.**

Chapter 22 – It's a Good Day for a Triathlon

The day finally arrived: competition day. The teams had been working on their individual strategies and two out of the three teams felt ready for the big day. The final team was a little iffy. Every time the twins and Tamaki would get together there was always a lot of yelling and an enormous amount of teasing, tricks, and laughing; in other words, they didn't get much done.

The morning of the competition, all nine hosts gathered at the starting point ready to face the day, well most of them. "Wait, who is going to do what?" Tamaki yelled.

Pushing his glasses up his nose, Kyoya shook his head, "You three didn't decide that yet? The starting time is in one hour, you have that long to make your decisions. I am not even going to ask what you three morons have been doing with your time, I can only imagine, but I will not have you make a folly of this competition. It is hosted by the Host Club and as such, you need to act like hosts! Now, I suggest you go over there and have a little pow wow about what you are going to do and who will be doing what part of the race."

"Mommy, are you saying that you know already?" Tamaki gasped.

"Of course we do. It shouldn't be that difficult for you Tamaki. You three just have to decide who wants to swim, bike, and run. That's it: one person per leg. It isn't hard."

Tamaki switched his attention to the other team that was gathered, "Haruhi, my beautiful daughter, have you three also decided who will do what?"

Glaring at his use of the word "daughter", a red tick mark appeared over her head as Haruhi grumbled, "You are not my father! And yes we decided that the first day we decided how we were going to progress and run the competition."

"GAH! I think daughter hates me," the blond whined and then was holding his head, "OW!"

"I told you senpai, it works very well to stop a hissy fit," Satoshi laughed as he watched Kyoya put away the shinai once again (yes dear reader, I had to bring back Kyoya's shinai due to popular demand).

The Shadow King nodded, "Yes, it is quite effective. Now, Tamaki, you and the twins need to go away and don't come back until you know who is doing what, and if you are not back within thirty minutes, I will have the Black Onion Squad hunt you down and you will make a decision when they get involved. Do I make myself clear?" A dark aura was beginning to appear around the vice president.

The twins wrapped their arms around Tamaki and gave everyone a devious look, "It's ok Kyoya-senpai. We got this. We know who is doing what."

"I will be running," Kaoru stated.

"I will be riding the bike," Hikaru added.

Together they said, "And Tono will be swimming."

"WHAT?!" Tamaki screamed.

Beaming, the glint in the twins' eyes grew causing everyone to take one step back and sweat drop as Hikaru and Kaoru continued, "This way everyone can do something they are good at."

The president yelled, "How do you know I am not better at something else?"

"Too late!" Kaoru smirked.

"Already been decided!" Hikaru snickered.

It was in that moment that Tamaki saw his life flash before his eyes. He was at the mercy of two devil twins who loved to tease him unceasingly. He was a dead man. "MOMMY! I NEED TO CHANGE TEAMS!" He cried out hoping that someone would take pity on him… no one did. They laughed. Yep, a dead man.

"Tamaki-senpai, even if one of us were willing to change teams, why would we change people right before competition, after all of our strategies have already been plotted. It almost makes it seems as if you three want that to happen and are trying to sabotage another team," Chika snarled.

"WAH! I am not!" The princely type denied emphatically.

Grinning mischievously, the twins commented, "Maybe we are, and maybe we aren't."

Screaming as if his life were in danger, Tamaki struggled to get away from his current teammates. They weren't loosening their grip though and as much as he tried to run away, his legs were starting to dig their own grave underneath him. When he made that connection, he passed out (alas the hole was already deep enough and long enough for a body).

The twins laughed when Tamaki slumped over and laid him in the hole his legs had dug. Producing a couple shovels out of thin air, they proceeded to cover their leader up with dirt essentially burying him. When they were through, they planted a lily upon the mound and pretended to mourn their loss of a team member.

The remaining members of the Host Club looked on and face palmed, but decided that it was better to not get involved at all. This was the norm and really there was nothing they could do about it. Besides, Tamaki was out of the grave and sputtering moments later.

"You buried me!" The blond bellowed.

"Technically, we were just helping you," Kaoru started.

"Finish what you began," Hikaru completed.

Simultaneously they declared, "You dug your own grave."

Mumbling under his breath, Satoshi rolled his eyes, "Seems like a metaphor for his life." This caused Haruhi and Chika to giggle next to him since they were standing close enough to hear it.

Tamaki gazed at Haruhi as she started to laugh and ran to her, pulling her into his arms, "Haruhi, how can you laugh at a time like this? Your evil brothers are trying to get rid of me!"

With her arms pinned, Haruhi couldn't do much and for some reason she couldn't get enough leverage to kick her friend, but she needn't worry. She soon felt herself lifted out of the arms from her now comatose friend.

Mori was ecstatic that Tamaki had decided to back off his pursuit of Haruhi, but why couldn't the blond get it through his head that he shouldn't grab an engaged woman? With a well-placed chop, the wild host knocked the president out and a simple flick of the wrist had Tamaki sprawled out on the ground three feet from where he started. The only reason Tamaki didn't go farther is that he rolled into the twins, knocking them down like bowling pins.

Sighing, Kyoya pushed up his glasses, "Mori-senpai, while I understand your methods and the reason behind them, we still have a triathlon to complete. Will he be up in time for that?"

"The start is in about an hour. He will wake up in about 15 minutes. You may want to get him some aspirin though," the tall host answered.

Sure enough, within 15 minutes Tamaki was starting to rouse. Two aspirin and a bottle of water were shoved into his hand immediately and after he downed the meds, he looked around careful not to move too much. He had one hell of a headache, "What happened?"

"You attacked Haruhi again boss," Hikaru answered.

Tamaki looked a little confused, "Attacked?"

"You know, you manhandled her again and Mori-senpai didn't like it," Kaoru guffawed. Although he and his brother were knocked down in the process, they both still found it utterly hilarious.

Groaning, the founder of the Host Club fell backwards and closed his eyes. His neck hurt, his head hurt, and he did not want to have to go swimming right now.

By the time the race was about to start, Tamaki was feeling much better, but he still wasn't sure about the competition (Aspirin supercharged by the Shadow King... do not put anything past him and his team of scientists. Actually Kyoya, can I get supercharged aspirin?). He wanted to win because he was a guy and all guys wanted to best the others, but did he have a chance? Who were his opponents for the swimming leg of the race? Looking around, there was a swarm of people surrounding them. This was the biggest crowd yet.

"I need everyone to gather around, competitors to the front," a voice sounded through the speaker system that had been installed just for the event (do you wonder who Kyoya chose to MC the event?).

As Haruhi approached the stage, she couldn't help but cringe. Not only did she have to deal with Tamaki and his daddy obsession, but there was her real life father standing on the small stage holding a microphone. Her life was over.

Ranka looked out over the crowd and immediately spotted Mori with Hunny on his shoulders making their way to the stage. He knew if he adjusted his eyes downward a little, he should be able to pinpoint his daughter… and there she was glaring at him, "Haruhi! Do you best today! Daddy is rooting for you!"

Face palming, Haruhi stopped in her tracks and let out a squeal when she was lifted into Mori's arms, "I can't believe Kyoya-senpai would do this to me." When she saw Mori's eyebrow rise and heard Hunny's giggle, she pouted, "Ok I can, but this is so embarrassing."

"Ne Haru-Chan, it will be ok. You have survived much worse with Tama-Chan!" Hunny laughed.

"Mitsukuni, you aren't helping," Mori told his short cousin. Looking down at the woman in his arms, he leaned down and gave her a small kiss, "He's right. It will be ok."

Once everyone had gathered around, Ranka cleared his throat in an attempt to be serious and not fangirl/boy over his own daughter, "Today the Ouran Host Club is hosting a triathlon for your enjoyment. They have decided to make it a team competition with each member on the team taking a different leg of the course. The first event will consist of the participants swimming out to the buoy in the ocean. Then they will race back and run up the beach to where the bicycles are located. They will tap the next person in the competition and that host will then bike back to Ouran. Once they arrive at the front gate, they will tap the final person on their team who will run around the school and to the school's track; where they will finish their distance running by completing four laps around the track. The first person to cross the finish line wins the competition for the team. Your teams are, team 1: Haruhi, Mori, and Hunny, team 2: Tamaki the worm, Hikaru, and Kaoru, and team 3: Satoshi, Yasuchika, and Kyoya!" Screams and cries filled the air and Ranka had to pause before he could move on, "Can I please have the first three competitors at the starting line? Good luck Haruhi! Daddy loves you and knows you will do your best!"

Mori swallowed his laughter, but he really did want to chuckle at how ostentatious her father was. He turned his fiancée's glaring countenance away from her father so that she was facing him and gave her a kiss, "Good luck. I know you will do well."

"That's right Haru-Chan! We know you can do this!" Hunny exclaimed.

Tamaki and the twins dead panned, "Haruhi is swimming? She can't swim!"

"Who says I can't swim?" The female host probed.

Taking it upon himself to remind her what had happened the previous school year, Tamaki screeched, "You fell off a cliff and almost drowned last year! I had to rescue you!"

Haruhi quirked an eyebrow, "You try swimming when you were pushed off a cliff and fell backwards. Let's not forget to mention I hit the water hard and had all of the air knocked out of me. I can swim fine and have been swimming since I was a toddler."

"That's right! My baby has always been like a fish in water! In fact, she used to compete in her old school and won medals!" Ranka's squeal came over the loud speakers.

There was a smug sense of satisfaction upon seeing three jaws drop to the floor. "My dad is right. I was pretty good at it, so today should be no problem," Haruhi smirked.

"Hey boss," Hikaru whispered.

Kaoru asked, "Do you think they are bluffing?"

"I, I don't know," Tamaki sputtered.

Appearing out of nowhere, Kyoya smiled, "Indeed they are not. Haruhi currently holds the fastest time for the 100m freestyle in all middle schools for Japan."

"WHAT?" Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki screamed.

"You assumed I didn't know how to swim, but I tried to tell you I could swim just fine at the water park. You wouldn't listen to me though," Haruhi chuckled and got in position.

Ranka's voice came through the microphone, "In the first leg of the competition we have my baby girl, Haruhi Fujioka." He waited for the screams to die down and continued, "Tamaki Suoh the half-French baka!" More screams rent the air, and when they started to die down, he said the final name, "Satoshi Morinozuka."

The girls were going crazy and breathing heavily. Hearts were appearing in their eyes as flames of MOE burned brightly. Nosebleeds and girls fainting could be seen throughout the mob that consisted of approximately 200 students, male and female, but the boys had been pushed to the back of the crowd.

"The second leg of the competition will be Mitsukuni "Hunny" Haninozuka, Hikaru Hitachiin, and Kyoya Ootori!" More screams and then Ranka announced the final leg of the competition, "In the third and final phase, your competitors are: Takashi "Mori" Morinozuka, my wonderful soon to be son-in-law, Kaoru Hitachiin, and Yasuchika Haninozuka. I don't know about you, but I am cheering for Team 1! Good luck my gorgeous daughter! Haruhi you look so cute in that swimsuit. Doesn't she look pretty Takashi?"

"Shoot me now," Haruhi moaned.

"On your marks, get set, GO!" Ranka shouted and watched as his daughter ran down the beach and hit the water. She might not have gotten to the water first, but she was quickly making up time in the waves.

Satoshi was able to make it to the water before the other two, but Tamaki was hot on his tail. Haruhi was a couple of lengths behind him, however, he knew with her record, she could easily catch up… and she did. Haruhi really was like a fish in the water and was able to surpass both boys, making it to the buoy long before the other two. She made it back to shore and with her lead, made it to Hunny about a minute before Satoshi tapped Kyoya. Tamaki was right behind him as he tapped Hikaru.

Hunny knew with his shorter legs that the bike was going to be his best bet at remaining ahead, even if he was fast. The others were fast too, so they had to plan for that. There was no question in Team 1 that Haruhi was going to be doing the swimming. Mori held records at Ouran for his PE tests in running. With his speed and long legs, the wild host needed to be their runner. That left the bike, and regardless of how long his legs were, Hunny could pedal fast. He was already increasing the lead his team held over the others.

When Tamaki tapped Hikaru, the eldest twin was not paying attention and lost his balance, sending him and the bike to the ground. The blond tried to help his teammate and wound up getting tangled in the bike with the redhead. They were quickly falling further and further behind. Satoshi finally came over picked up Tamaki and then picked up the bike before hauling Hikaru to his feet and slapping both of their heads, "You two can argue later, get on with the race!"

"What a pair of morons," Haruhi mumbled to her future brother-in-law as she tried to catch her breath.

"You can say that again," the young Morinozuka was in full agreement, "Come on, my parents' car is over here. We will be able to get to the track faster and see what happens from there. I have no doubt Mitsukuni will win this leg of the race, and based on what we just saw, I have a feeling team 2 will be coming in dead last."

Kyoya had not realized that Hunny would be so fast on a bike, but he should have suspected it since the martial arts master was at the peak of his physical conditioning. The Shadow King did what he could to catch up and even surpass his senpai, but it appeared he was not making much headway. At least Hikaru wasn't beating him.

However, there was a problem with Hunny's bike. Now, he couldn't be sure, but something told him that the twins had messed with it and loosed the valve on the tire. He had a flat. Thankfully, a car was following with spare tires and he was able to change out the wheel quickly. The bad news was that Kyoya had passed him. He had to make up time. (Now you are probably wondering why Hunny believed the twins were at fault, well dear reader, they wrote on the tire "Hikaru and Kaoru were here" with the date, and yes, it was their handwriting. Of course the arrow that seemed to appear out of nowhere alerted Hunny to the writing immediately). Pedaling as hard as he could, Hunny was able to catch up to Kyoya, but he was not able to overtake him. Five seconds behind the vice president, he tapped Mori and sent his cousin off for the final leg of the race.

Knowing it wasn't much of a lead, Kyoya tapped Chika as fast as he could and thus passed the hypothetical baton to his final teammate. After a couple of minutes he looked at Hunny, "Have you seen Hikaru?"

"No, but after this competition is over, I want to have a word with him and his brother," Hunny snarled, dark Hunny was making an appearance.

"What happened?" Kyoya inquired.

Kaoru heard what his senpai had said and gulped; that could only mean that their little prank had worked on Hunny but not on Kyoya. It was then that his brother rode up upon them at a fast pace and tapped Kaoru. He had never been so happy for his brother's appearance and only hoped that when he finished the race, he still had someone he could call brother.

Approaching the twin that had just ridden up, Hunny glared, "What did you and your brother do to my bike?"

Pushing up his glasses, Kyoya studied Hikaru's expression turn from flushed with exertion to pale white and chalky, "Yes, what did you do to his bike?"

"It was just a joke! We didn't think anything would actually happen!" Hikaru explained nervously knowing that he could actually die at that moment now that he was seeing two dark auras starting to make an appearance, "I love you Kaoru!"

Hunny's expression turned even fiercer as a dark aura surrounding him grew. His voice sounded almost demonic as he growled, "You touched my bike, I lost my lead, and I got a flat tire." Without waiting for any further words, he swept Hikaru's legs out from under him and then grabbed a leg, swung the younger man over his head a few times, before throwing him to the ground away from him, but Hunny wasn't done yet...

As Hikaru's soul started to leave his body, Kyoya observed everything with an almost bored expression. It served the twins right. They should have never touched the loli shota's bike. His dark aura was receding, but he was silently cheering on the cake loving host. Cringing as Hunny bent the twin almost in two, Kyoya was reminded of a wrestling match Tamaki had made him watch once.

Mori took off immediately following Chika and was able to quickly overtake him and return team 1 to the lead position. However, as he and his cousin made their way towards the track through the tree line, they were pelted with water balloons; and both knew there were only two people that could be behind that… the twins. The two martial arts masters were used to facing adversity though and did not let the obstacle slow them down. Soon they were both in the stadium on the track and racing through their final laps to a crowd full of screaming fans. Kaoru didn't join them until they were both done with the first lap. Unless he was the Flash, there was no way he would be able to overtake them.

On his last lap, Mori pushed himself even further widening the distance between him and Chika from a quarter of the track to more than half (hey he was pacing himself). Approaching the finish line, he saw Haruhi waiting for him and cheering him on, and as soon as he crossed, he swept her up in his arms before he slowed down. Chika crossed 47 seconds behind his cousin and Kaoru crossed in another three minutes.

Tamaki approached the couple a few minutes later, "I can't believe I was beaten by Haruhi."

"You should never judge someone before you know who they truly are," Mori grinned.

All attention was soon on the shortest blond of the club when he suddenly appeared, and he didn't look happy about the win, "Hey Kaoru, I have to talk to you."

"Shit!" Kaoru took off running knowing that he might not be able to get away, but at least he had to try. His legs were burning and he was out of air, however, he pushed himself to try and get away from certain death.

"Mitsukuni, leave him alone for right now," Mori called out, "You can seek revenge later."

Dark aura receding ever so slightly, Hunny took in several deep breaths before it was gone completely. Then he looked up at his tall cousin and Haruhi beaming, "Ok Takashi! Do we get a victory cake now? Usa-Chan wants some too!"

Tamaki sweat dropped at the 180 degree change in his senpai. He wasn't sure what the twins did, but he knew that if Kaoru was involved then Hikaru was too, "Hey, where is Hikaru?"

"He is just taking a small nap at the front gate," Kyoya supplied with a malicious glint in his eye.

"You know Kyoya-senpai, I don't know what they did to my brother to get him worked up like that, but the runners got hit with water balloons," Chika tattled with a sly grin.

Another dark aura was starting to come out yet again, "THOSE IDIOTS! I AM GOING TO KILL THEM!"


	23. The Punishment

**A/N: The twins… what are we going to do with them? They are trouble makers, but if it wasn't for them, the race might not have been as interesting. LOL. Enjoy the new chapter.**

**PS… if you have not seen it, I have written the side story to this series: 101 Uses for a Shinai. Due to popularity, I am going to write another chapter for it, but it will be based on #100. Now, I can make it total crack or I can make Satoshi the main character. Who do you want to see? I have new poll up on my author page. You pick who you want to see running around in his underwear waving a shinai. **

Chapter 23 – The Punishment

After the crowd had finally cleared out, all of the hosts were sitting in music room three and in the center of a miniature mob two redheads could be seen cowering a bit. For once Tamaki was not in the hot seat or acting like an idiot. He had no clue about what had been going on and was completely innocent to any wrong doing that the twins had planned.

Hikaru looked a little worse for wear, his soul barely clinging to the beat up body it belonged to. Hunny had put him through the ringer while Kyoya supervised the whole activity before they joined the others in the stadium for the end of the race. When the Shadow King said that Hikaru was taking a little nap by the front gate, he meant that he was slightly bruised, beat up from being thrown around, and might or might not have a couple of broken bones… but that is just a maybe. It could have been worse.

Kaoru sat next to his brother and wanted to cling to Hikaru, but didn't know where exactly he could grab him, so opted for pulling his legs up onto the couch and wrapping his arms around those so that he didn't look like he was trembling as much as he was. He could not show fear. If you showed fear, they were more likely to attack like a pack of rabid dogs. "N-now we were j-j-just tr-trying to make it m-more inter-interesting," he stammered and damned his voice for the stuttering and weakness it uncovered, "Didn't we Hikaru?"

"Yeth," Hikaru moaned.

Adjusting his glasses, Kyoya smiled, "I see. Interesting was it? I can make your lives very interesting indeed."

Both twins gulped, although it was more obvious in Kaoru than Hikaru. The younger of the brothers scooted as close as he possibly could to his brother, and Hikaru didn't move, unable to do so due to his earlier injuries.

"I can't believe you two! You two have pulled pranks and caused problems before, but to do something like this… how could you? Today was supposed to be a fun competition and instead you attempted to turn this club into a laughing stock. I will not stand for it! You could have hurt Hunny-senpai, and if it had worked on the other bike, you could have hurt Kyoya too! Not to mention what could have happened in your water balloon raid. You are supposed to be hosts, gentlemen, and friends of the people that you blatantly attacked. I am shocked and appalled right now. Both of you are grounded!" Tamaki chastised (Yes, dear reader, it was Tamaki that started lecturing them. Now the question is, did they actually listen to what our goofy baka had to say, or did they ignore him like they usually do? Read on and find out.)

With each word Tamaki uttered, the twins flinched. There was a huge difference between normal Tamaki and his idiotic ways, and serious Tamaki when his words could move anyone to action; and right now those words were directed at them. It wasn't that they didn't think about their actions, they just didn't think it was going to be a big deal. Of course, they weren't expecting Hunny to find out it was them that did that to his tire… then again they did write on all of the tires that they rigged, so that had been a mistake. Well actually, they wanted the prank to be found out, but they wanted to be able to laugh about it, not get almost killed by black Hunny for it.

Before the Hikaru and Kaoru could say anything, Tamaki continued, "You need to apologize to everyone that was subjected to your tormenting today. What would have happened if the tire had not simply gone flat? With as fast as he was riding, it could have seriously injured him; and I would not have stopped Mori-senpai from killing you both. I don't think anyone here would have. Then to throw the balloons in someone's face… what if someone had slipped on the wet grass and injured themselves. Mori-senpai is our kendo captain and Yasuchika is our karate captain. They both have competitions coming up and we need them not just on the sidelines, but in the action too!"

"We're sorry Tono, we just didn't think…" Kaoru tried.

"THAT'S THE PROBLEM, YOU DIDN'T THINK! You like to pull pranks without regard to anyone else and normally it is ok, but there are times when it is not appropriate! Today during a serious competition, it was not ok. This wasn't a stunt competition like that Wipeout show in America, this was a time when no one was expecting something like that and it could have led to serious complications! Look at Hikaru; that is the result of your actions!" Tamaki yelled. Actually, Hikaru was the result of Hunny getting to him first, but no one was about to point that out at the moment, he was on a roll.

Everyone in the room was slightly shocked that it was the Host Club's president that was lecturing the twins and not someone else. Yes, he had a serious side, but no one expected this… well, almost no one. Kyoya pushed his glasses up and smiled knowing full well how Tamaki was when he was standing up for the innocent.

Attempting to raise his head, Hikaru mumbled, "We're sorry Tono. We're sorry everyone!" Then he exchanged a look with his brother and nodded, well as much as he could, "Do you think…"

"That we could do something like that TV show?" Kaoru finished. Both Hitachiin twins felt like they had been lectured enough and wanted to move on, and distracting Tamaki from the lecture was the best way to accomplish that.

Tamaki thought about it for a moment and said, "Well I guess we could do something…"

"Don't you guys feel like we have had more than enough? I mean between the kendo, judo, and the triathlon, I think we have had plenty of competitions," Haruhi grumbled.

Pushing up his glasses, Kyoya injected himself. He knew exactly what the twins' plan was and he wasn't going to let it go that easily, "We will think about it and discuss it at a later time. Back to what you two did this morning, I checked the tires. You two not only both tires on both mine and Hunny-senpai's bike, but a couple of the spare tires as well. The grounds of Ouran are littered with colorful latex from the water balloons you had rigged to throw at the runners. I am surprised you didn't do anything for the swimming competition."

"We didn't want to see anyone get hurt!" Kaoru argued.

Kyoya tilted his head to the side, "And yet you did it anyway. Both of you will clean up ever speck of latex from the premises. Not a staff member, customer, Haruhi, or anyone else. You two will pick up with your own two hands and get every scrap of trash from your 'wonderful idea' and throw them away yourself. I have assigned several men from the Black Onion Squad to watch you and make sure it is completed before you are allowed to leave the school grounds."

"But what if it gets dark?" Hikaru cried out.

"That is what flood lights are for," Kyoya smirked.

A chill crept up both Hikaru and Kaoru spines and they knew they were not getting out of this punishment. They were lucky black Hunny had not been unleashed again on them. Hikaru did venture to ask, "Will any of you help us?"

Red tick marks showed up above ever single head of the remaining hosts as they all shouted, "NO!" With that said, the twins were led out of the room and towards their punishment.

Exhaling, Haruhi had to admit that she felt a little bad for her friends, but she would not interfere in their punishment, "Hey Kyoya senpai, you do realize that they will probably be out there all night."

"I am aware of this Haruhi, but they need to learn when and when not to pull their little pranks. Today could have proven to be very dangerous," the Shadow King stated.

Haruhi narrowed her eyes and smiled, "So how long are we giving them before we send help down?"

"We aren't. They are going to clean it themselves, but we can always watch them from here or go down and observe them," Kyoya smiled.

"So we aren't leaving either?" Haruhi questioned.

"You can leave if you want to," the bespectacled teen stated.

Chuckling, Tamaki beamed, "How about we order dinner later and take it down to them? I am sure they would have learned their lesson by then; and then we can also point out any pieces they miss. Kyoya said they had to pick it up, he never said we couldn't help them look. Right mommy?"

Kyoya sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. His friend was right, "That is correct Tamaki, but do you really want to help them after what they did?"

"We are a family and as a family, we should help each other out. Right?"

Mori placed his hand on Tamaki's shoulder and smiled, "That's right."

"Wow, I'm impressed Tamaki-senpai, that is very grown up of you," Haruhi grinned and soon found herself in a death defying hug, but this time she was able to leverage herself and kick Tamaki's shin causing him to relax his arms and she grabbed his arm throwing him to the ground, "Grown up of you, but then you did that."

Everyone in the room started to laugh. Mori pulled Haruhi into the safety of his arms and leaned down to whisper in her ear that he loved her before giving her a kiss. Hunny started eating the cake that was set on the table for him; and Kyoya shook his head at his best friend lying on the ground before helping him up. All in all, the club was actually back to normal, and it was about time.

When dinner arrived, Satoshi asked, "Are we really going to think about doing something like that Wipeout show?"

"I'm not sure it is feasible, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to do something like a water balloon war and allow our customers to participate this time. We can have it right before Tamaki and I graduate. Besides, we still need to do something to pay those two back," Kyoya answered with a malicious glint in his eye.

Chika and Satoshi gulped before Satoshi asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, I have some ideas," the Shadow King laughed. Yes, it was definitely back to normal.

**A/N2… More fluff in the next chapter between Mori/Haruhi. And don't forget to vote. **


End file.
